Labyrinth of Misinterpretations
by MairiNathaira
Summary: Teddy, an Auror, needs to protect Draco from being attacked in a foreign country. Teddy uses the assignment as a way to escape from his relationship problems only to run into more confusing situations with Draco. SLASH WARNING. TL/DM.


**Title**: Labyrinth of Misinterpretations

**Author**: Mairi Nathaira

**Rating**: R

**Category**: Post-war, drama, future fic, first time

**Notes**: Written for Harry Holidays 2008. Thanks to E, D, T, and J for input and advice. A big thank you to E2 for betaing this monster. Last of my thanks are for the Harry Holidays mods for arranging such a fabulous fest! Magelet, I hope you enjoy this. I enjoyed researching for this fic and enjoyed writing it! Happy Holidays!

**Summary**: Teddy, an Auror, needs to protect Draco from being attacked in a foreign country. Teddy uses the assignment as a way to escape from his relationship problems only to run into more confusing situations with Draco.

**Pairing**: TL/DM with mentions of ASP/SM and HP/NL

**Warnings**: Slash

**Dedications**: Magelet

**Disclaimer**: All places mentioned in the story are real for the most part, and all characters here are purely fictional. Any resemblance to real people is purely coincidental. The myths and legends are based off of what was on Wikipedia and the author's limited knowledge on Korean mythology. With the exceptions of the Earth's Milk remaining in the world and of the "round pedestal", everything else is more or less real. Harry Potter belongs to Warner Brothers and the wonderful JK Rowling. I do not own them, despite the fact I wish I could own SS, RL, and SB. The only thing that belongs to me is the story itself.

**Feedback**: All comments and criticisms are welcomed there. If it's flame then don't bother for I will put them in my trashcan or blog about it and laugh at you.

* * *

_October 2024_

"Are you sure about taking this mission, Teddy?"

Teddy Lupin looked up at the man who had helped raised him. Harry Potter, the saviour of the wizarding world, the man who worked as the head of the Auror Department, the man who was his surrogate father, godfather even, and -- just as equally important -- his boss.

"Yes, I'm sure. I volunteered because I want to do this."

"It's not going to be easy."

Teddy's smile lit up the sparks in his natural hazel eyes. "Anybody designated to protect Draco Malfoy will automatically know that it won't be a simple task. However, I'm more than prepared for it."

_Not really, but I can't let Harry know my doubts right now,_ he thought to himself. "Yes, Draco Malfoy will probably be a bit of a curmudgeon -- our family reunions are enough to draw back on that fact -- but he's _still_ family. Plus, I wouldn't mind travelling and living in a foreign country, an Asian one at that."

"Well, yes, but it's not everyday somebody like Draco Malfoy receives threats and is almost bludgeoned to death by a car. I can understand if it happened here, in England, but in South Korea of all places?" Harry shook his head at the idea of it. "I suppose the Malfoy name is more widespread than I thought."

"Not more than yours," Teddy teased with a grin. "Your fame apparently has travelled outside of England, to all the international magical communities in the world."

Groaning, Harry said, "Yes. Why do you think I don't travel much? And if I do, I make sure I'm in a place surrounded by Muggles rather than wizards!" Teddy watched as his godfather pushed his spectacles up from where they had slipped down. His green eyes turned a bit dark as he stared contemplatively at Teddy.

"Are you taking an overseas assignment because of Victoire?"

Teddy stiffened at the question as he avoided looking at Harry. Instead, his gaze travelled across the Head Auror's office, the same office he had been coming into to talk to Harry in the past seven years since he started his Auror training. "Perhaps . . ."

"Let me ask you a simple question -- do you love her?"

"You know that's not a simple question at all," Teddy said, looking back up at Harry. He let out a soft sigh. "I do love her, I know I do, but something's telling me that she's not the one. Maybe my instincts are misguided, but at the same time I trust them." Actually, it was more like he could _smell_ that Victoire wasn't the right one. The werewolf side of him screamed that information, especially around full moon. This heightened sense of smell was one thing he had inherited from his late father. He could not only smell flavours, he could also smell people's emotion and their aura. As an Auror, this skill allowed him to be a good judge of character and people.

Harry reached out to pat Teddy's broad shoulder. "I just want you to know. Whatever you choose to do in life, I will support you, and so will Andromeda and the rest of the family."

Teddy was glad that Harry was there to support him. After all, even though Harry and Ginny had separated amicably several years ago, the Weasley family still supported him. Teddy knew that he still had the family's support, but when Teddy suggested that he and Victoire take time off from one another, Victoire had taken the suggestion very emotionally. It wouldn't have been fair to Victoire if he'd chosen to stay together without any feelings of love towards her. Luckily, Bill and Fleur didn't hold anything against him for his actions, but he _still_ felt guilty.

This had happened several months ago, and Teddy needed to get away from here, needed a change of scenery, and needed to clear his mind and soul of this mess he'd inadvertently gotten into. However, he honestly wanted to go visit the country, experience the culture and food, and he didn't want this opportunity to escape him. "I'm glad you trust me to do this assignment. Thanks, Harry."

Harry nodded. "Now, let's go over the briefing once more before I send you off."

* * *

Teddy knew that Asians, in general, had an entirely different fashion sense from the west. He had seen enough pictures and other media in the Muggle world to come to that conclusion. However, seeing it on digital media and then seeing it face to face was an entirely different story.

He watched a _feminine_ looking man run in his direction. The man in question, a very skinny man at that, had on a pair of tight black jeans, an equally tight _pink_ long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of black flip-flops. The outfit, minus the pink shirt, wouldn't have been too odd except that it just looked very out of place on a scarecrow like him.

After Teddy studied the man's outfit, he tried to look at the man's eyes, but they were covered by a common-looking pair of sunglasses. Instead, his eyes travelled to the man's hair. His hair was long and shaggy, dyed in a horrible shade of orange with what looked like magenta highlights, and pulled back in a loose and messy ponytail. Teddy's eyes saw a glint and it took him a moment to realise it came from the man's multiple piercings on both ears.

As the man got closer to Teddy, he asked in an out of breath voice, "Are you Teddy Lupin?" The man's perfect English, with no hint of an accent, broke through Teddy's thoughts.

"Ah, er, yes, and you're . . . ?"

The man bowed deeply. "I'm Lee, Yi, or Ee -- pick your choice -- Sung Hoon, otherwise known as Max." Max removed his sunglasses to reveal his violet eyes. "I am Draco Malfoy's real estate agent and a translator for the Ministry of Magical Seoul, otherwise known as MOMS."

Teddy decided that he didn't want to know why the South Korean Ministry had someone like this guy as the translator for MOMS, much less a real estate agent. However, he sniffed subtlety at Max's scent, and he relaxed as he found that Max exuded a friendly and an apologetic aura.

"I'm sorry I'm an hour late. See, I was stuck in the horrible Seoul traffic, and since I was in a cab, I couldn't Apparate. How was your international Portkey travel?"

"It was tiring, but I'm well aware that I have to go to Mr. Malfoy's place by Portkey."

Max nodded as he dug through his pocket for his cell phone. "Yes. He's expecting us -- or was. He hates to be kept waiting. We're late, but it's my fault! I'll explain to him." He raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Malfoy? I thought you two were related."

Before Teddy could answer, Max just waved a hand. "Never mind! Let's go to his place in Gwangju down in Jeollanam Province. Be glad that this is going to be a quick trip. Going by car or bus would take four hours at least."

Before Teddy could ask why Draco was there instead of in Seoul, he felt Max's hand on his. In between their palms, something cool pressed into their skins.

"Starbucks!" Max said the code word to activate the Portkey.

Teddy felt the familiar tug in his stomach as he fell through the vortex of darkness.

* * *

Coming to reality, Teddy's body jerked at the landing. He let his mind clear from the sensations, and when he came to, he realised he and Max were still holding hands. Nonchalantly as possible, he let Max's hand go and was about to put his hand in his pocket when he saw that their Portkey was still in his hand. He saw that it was a coin. A coin that had the number one on it. "A one won coin? I thought these don't exist anymore."

"They aren't used here in the present, but I use it as a personal portkey. It's my lucky coin, so I use it as my personal Portkey when I'm by myself or only with one other person."

Teddy nodded and gave the coin back to its owner. Just as he was going to comment on how amazing it was that Max hadn't lost the coin yet, the view -- or rather the gate -- in front made him stop and stare. "Wow."

"Yes, pretty impressive, right? These are what we call hanok-style buildings."

"Impressive? This is beyond fantastic and brilliant!" Teddy allowed his eyes to take in the view. He had imagined Draco to be living in some western-style mansion. Instead, a very eastern-style "mansion" greeted him. The gate, white and brown with stone pillars decorating the front, had windows running from one end to the other. In the middle, though, there was a door, a heavy wooden door. From the top of the gate, he could see rooftops of the _houses_ in there. Not a single house, but _houses_.

"How many buildings are behind these walls?"

"About six. However, he lives in the biggest one. Although I'm still not sure why a single man like him decided to get this huge place just for himself."

Teddy let out a chuckle. "He's a Malfoy. Malfoys like to be rich and pretentious."

Teddy watched the perplexed expression on Max's face, who looked as if he was going to question the logic behind that response before he decided it probably wasn't worth the trouble. "Let's go." Max headed to the wooden door and pushed a button on the side. Teddy stood behind him, mused on how orange and magenta could be a combination, and listened to Beethoven's "Fur Elise" doorbell -- which sounded as if a cat was being strangled.

A minute or two passed, and Teddy heard Max mumble, "Well that's unusual. I wonder why he's not letting us in. It's a good thing I have a key." Max dug out a key from his bag and unlocked the gate. "I hope nothing happened . . . "

Teddy's Auror instincts took over him. As soon as the door unlocked, he rushed past Max and ran straight for the biggest house he saw. He stepped onto the wooden patio attached to the house and quickly opened the sliding door.

"Mr. Mal -- Malf -- Dra -- Draco!" He entered the house and stared at the western looking room that greeted him. Just before Teddy could look around some more, Draco came around the corner from another room. All thoughts about the contrasting décor of east and west left his brain as he stared at Draco. A Draco who had brandished his wand at him. A Draco who was dripping wet, naked, and pissed off.

Teddy couldn't help it. His eyes developed a mind of their own as they gazed all over Draco's hardened body. He looked at the broad shoulders and arms, where they had enough muscle on them to indicate strength, but not overly huge like a body builder. His gaze moved downward as he briefly noticed the slim waist and the legs that were a bit more muscular than the arms. As he continued looking, two major details struck him. First, he could see pale scars -- lines that criss-crossed in small patches all over Draco's body. Secondly, he could see the thin trail of hair starting from Draco's navel. The blond hairs were pale, but on the slightly flushed skin from the hot water, he could see the contrast. In fact, Teddy could see that almost everything about Draco was pale: his skin, hair, and scars. Despite that, though, the scars struck out, and so did the inviting trail.

In contrast, though, there were three things that weren't pale on Draco. One was his flaccid penis, which was slightly darker in colour than the rest of his body, the second was the faded Dark Mark, and the third was Draco's face. More accurately, his cheeks. Teddy could see that the man was blushing from embarrassment and anger.

He almost flinched at the accusatory and clipped tone Draco used. "How dare you two not alert me of your presence by using the simple Muggle invention of a doorbell? That's the least you could do, if you aren't going to be punctual!"

"Sorry about being late. I got stuck in traffic -- and yes I know I could have Apparated, but I wanted to ride a cab today. Didn't think the traffic would be awful. Oh and we rang the doorbell." Max had come up to Draco with a smile. He threw Draco a towel. A small towel that was only big enough to wrap around his waist. He gave Teddy a grin. "These are your traditionally small Korean towels."

Draco quickly wrapped the towel around him and said, "Don't change the fucking subject, Max. I didn't hear the doorbell, which means you didn't ring it."

"We did."

"Rubbish! I would have heard the doorbell! That tune screeches through the entire house! Plus, the natural wards around this place would have alerted me if someone was coming, but that didn't work . . ." Teddy watched Draco's face clouded in anger. Before he could ask about these "natural wards", Draco did the impossible thing where he yelled without actually raising his voice.

"Mung Chung! Show yourself!"

Right in front of Teddy appeared someone -- or something? -- roughly the size of a five-year old child. Teddy, still in his Auror-mode, was just about to cast a spell when his wand flew out of his hand and landed across the room from him. He let out a surprised yell as he took several steps backward, away from the thing in front of him.

"Wha--? Who or what are you?" After Teddy had a closer look at the small figure, he came to the conclusion that this thing was definitely not a human. He tried to sniff the thing out, but he was extremely surprised to find that not a single scent came from it. He studied the odd thing. He saw that there was a brown horn, rather wide instead of thin like that of a unicorn's, on the top of the head, where it was covered in green hair, all spiked up. The thing's skin was pale, and it wore a leopard-printed pair of shorts as its only piece of clothing. Lastly, Teddy eyed the bumpy club in the thing's hand, and he could sense some kind of magic from the club.

A few more seconds passed as Teddy continued to stare at what he decided was something directly out of the last century: a punk rock caveman thing wannabe. His train of thought was interrupted by Draco, though.

"Did you disable the wards around this place _and_ my doorbell?" Teddy could hear and smell the anger surrounding the words, but he also could smell something else from Draco: resignation and a bit of exasperation mixed with humour. Then there was something even more subtle. Something unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. Teddy pushed the thought aside as he stared back at the weird thing.

The thing, Mung Chung, gave Draco a cheeky smile. "No. It must have been my twin. I was sleeping the entire time."

Teddy watched Draco and Max share knowing expressions. "Thank Merlin you're not a twin. Otherwise my life would be more of a hell than it already is. Now why don't you just admit to doing this trickery before I decide to get a dokkaebi exorcist and have them exorcise you when you're in your kimchi-pot mode."

Before Mung Chung could answer, Teddy looked at Draco and Max. "What's going on? What is this thing -- a dokkaebi, was it? -- and what does a kimchi-pot have to do with anything?"

Draco and Max looked up at Teddy in surprise, the former more with more disdain. "You know what a kimchi-pot is, but you don't know what a dokkaebi is? How's it possible you know of the Muggle terminology here rather than the magical one? And you call yourself a wizard?"

Teddy ignored the insults from Draco as he decided to talk to Max. "Sorry, Max, forgive my ignorance. I didn't exactly have enough time to review the magical world of South Korea in enough detail to familiarise myself with this terminology. I know about kimchi and kimchi-pot because they are a staple of Korean culture in the Muggle and wizarding sense."

"Ah, that's understandable. To answer your question, dokkaebi is believed to be a mythological figure -- kind of like a goblin -- with special magical power within their clubs, the clubs being called 'bangmangee'. They exist as pranksters who reward good people and punish the bad people." Teddy listened to the explanation. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Mung Chung take a bow at him.

"However, one little warning about getting rewards from a dokkaebi. For an example, if they reward you with something like money, it will be _stolen_ from somewhere nearby, from another household perhaps. As for the whole kimchi-pot situation, each dokkaebi has a standby-mode where they transform into everyday objects. He just happens to transform into a kimchi-pot.

"It may seem like a weird thing to have a dokkaebi in the house, but sometimes, like in Mung Chung's case, a dokkaebi will be attached to a particular location. Mung Chung is attached to this house, and because of that, this entire place has a natural ward against any dangerous foe who might want to break into it."

Teddy nodded as he processed the new information. "So you're telling me that Mung Chung's very useful to have, but his mentality and appearance matches that of a mischievous five-year old?"

Right then, Teddy felt something wet and smelly hit his face. "Oh bloody hell, what is this?!" He peeled the object off of his face, and he realised that it was someone's wet, stinky socks. "Ugh! Disgusting!"

Max started laughing out loud. "I also forgot to say one last thing. A dokkaebi is very sensitive, prideful, and does not take insult well. So do be careful and do not insult Mung Chung here. By the way, his real name is Chung Mung, but Draco decided to westernise the name order by putting the surname last. In essence, by putting his name in a western order, his name literally means 'stupid idiot'."

Teddy recalled a word that floated in his head. The first Korean word he learned from couple of his Korean acquaintances back home. "So it's similar to 'babo'?"

"That's right! Mung Chung is a big babo!" Just then a broom came out of nowhere, which literally smacked Max's butt.

"Ouch! Ow! That hurts, you babo!" Teddy watched the broom's continual hitting spree, and soon it was leading Max out the door.

"Ack! Stop! I apologise! Ouch! Fuck it! I'll just leave and come back soon or call me up when you come up to Seoul! Bye!"

Max disappeared off of Draco's property and so did Mung Chung. Teddy, surprised by the random turn of events, turned towards Draco. A Draco who was still naked except for the small towel covering his private areas. "Um, er."

Draco's glare stopped him from continuing. "I'm going to finish up my bath. After this hell happened, I'll need to unwind again." Draco pointed towards the side. "That's the sitting room. Just wait there and don't touch anything until I come back."

Teddy sighed as Draco stomped off in the opposite direction while holding onto the small towel. Teddy turned and started to head into the sitting room, but there was a pop and a high-pitched voice asked, "Does Master Teddy wishes to have something to eat or drink? Shinny will help you, sir! I come back from food shopping. Shinny's sorry that you and Master Draco had to deal with that no good 'bi-bi'."

"Ah, thank you, Shinny. I am not hungry, but could I have a cup of tea?"

Shinny nodded her head enthusiastically. Teddy saw the neatly tied blue-coloured bow in Shinny's hair, which matched her simple blue dress. "Yes, sir! I bring it to you in the sitting room!" Shinny disappeared and that was when Teddy saw that Aunt Hermione's SPEW campaign really made a difference if a house-elf under someone like Malfoy was given equal rights. Smiling, he picked his wand up and headed into the sitting room to wait for the master of the house.

* * *

Two cups of tea and several biscuits later, Draco finally showed up in the sitting room, dressed neatly in a pair of black trousers and an equally black velvet robe. Teddy could see the white-collared shirt under the robe, and he couldn't help but be amused at how Draco preferred to be dressed formally, even when he was in his own home.

He watched Draco take a seat in an expensive armchair and wave a hand. The fire came to life in the fireplace. While Teddy questioned why there was a fireplace here instead of the "ondol" floor heating Koreans were famous for, Teddy was glad of the warmth being given to him in a familiar fashion -- the evening had turned quite chilly.

After the fire was lit, Shinny popped into the room. She had a tray with her, and on the tray was an expensive bottle of brandy and two tumblers. The tray was set on the table between the armchair and the couch Teddy sat upon. Shinny looked at her master. "Anything else, Master Draco?"

"That is all for now, Shinny. Thank you." After Shinny took her leave, Draco took the bottle of brandy and poured some into the tumblers. He took one tumbler. Teddy took the other.

The two sipped their drinks quietly for a few minutes. It was Draco who broke the silence. "First of all, I will not tolerate your hair. I think it's better to be incognito about all this, and you having green and blue streaks in your light-brown hair will not help. It's bad enough Max has that horrible colour-scheme, but I refuse to have you tag along with me looking like some misplaced punk rocker."

Teddy's hands automatically went to his shaggy hair that framed lightly around his face, where its length ended right in the middle of his neck. With his metamorphmagus ability, he liked to experiment with his appearance. However, after going through his teenage years where he changed appearance practically every hour, he decided that he needed to tone down his transformations. Now, he only did it when he needed to do his job, but once in a while, he would change his hazel eyes into a different colour and play around with his natural, shaggy light-brown hair. His current style right now was actually tame to some of the other stuff he had tried.

Teddy opened his mouth to retort, but Draco beat him. "Also, I am far too old to have a baby-sitter. It was not my idea to have you here, and frankly, I am not happy about it."

"Look--"

"Therefore, I already have a plan in mind. Luckily, I have a long weekend. I'll let you know the details about what I suspect. We'll go by my plans and my terms until this conflict -- or lack there of -- is solved. That's all that's needed to be said." Draco drank some more, and he made a dismissing gesture at Teddy.

Instead of leaving, Teddy set his tumbler down on the table. He leaned towards Draco. "I have a few things to say as well. First, my hair is my business, not yours. I respect you wanting us to take the subtle route, especially when we have to be out in the public, but when I am out of public eyes, I will do whatever I wish to my appearance."

Teddy saw the frown on Draco's forehead, but when Draco didn't say anything, Teddy continued his speech. "I'll go with any plans you have. After all, you're more familiar with this country's locales and its cultures and traditions. You've been studying Korea for five years now, and I know you're dedicated to your studies instead of skimping on them. However, I request that you tell me of the plans, and we'll execute them after we both come to a mutual agreement on them."

He paused as he studied the frown on Draco's face, the frown that hadn't changed since its appearance. "Also, I am not a baby-sitter, either. However, to prevent any casualties, I will do what I have to do. And, yes, it could have been coincidence, where a random horrible driver lost control of their brakes and barely managed to miss you. However, the fact that they threw out a message, tied to a rock that was aimed straight for your head and luckily missed, that explicitly targeted you and told you that you needed to die is enough to warrant a protection issue for you.

"Believe me. I'm sure the easiest route is to let you be banged up by a car in this country, but I don't fancy that idea and neither does Harry."

Teddy gave Draco an amicable smile as he stood up and held out a hand. "But I will say that I want to get to the bottom of this, and the quickest route for that to happen is for you and me to cooperate with one another. Do we have a deal?"

Draco let out a growl. "Fine. I guess I will always be indebted to the Potters or to the godchildren of the Potters. But if it means getting rid of you in the fastest mean possible, then let's do it. Just don't expect this to be pleasant."

"Let's shake on it."

A paler and smaller hand grasped his darker and larger one. Teddy gave a firm shake before letting go, but not without feeling something passing between them. Teddy sniffed the sudden energy between them, but he couldn't decipher it. There was that scent from Draco again, a sweet, spicy sort of scent that had a secret of its own. Teddy sniffed, and the scent was there, trying to tell him something, but Teddy couldn't fathom its meaning. That unnerved him, so he quickly loosened his hold on Draco. He gauged Draco's reaction, irked that Draco was unfazed by whatever that experience was.

"I'm sure you're tired from the international Portkey travelling. Shinny will show you to your rooms. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night . . . "

"Just call me Draco. Any of those formal names you've called me in the past is unnecessary."

"Well, then. Thank you for your hospitality. Good night, Draco." Teddy gave a nod of acknowledgement. Shinny popped up then and led the way to one of Draco's many guest rooms.

* * *

When Teddy walked into one of the rooms, he was surprised to see that there was a bed in the room. He honestly expected to sleep on the floor in full Korean traditional way. He walked in and saw a queen-size bed covered with a colourful mink blanket that had the Korean tiger design on it. Along with the blanket, there were two hard and lumpy looking pillows that Teddy couldn't help but think that they had to be made out of rocks.

Teddy, yet again, just shook his head at the contradicting décor of the place. Deciding that he needed a nice hot shower, he went into his personal bath, where everything was as modern and western as it could get. When he was done, dried up, and only in a pair of pyjama bottoms, he went to lie on the bed.

Just as he expected, the bed was really soft and easy on his back, and the mink blanket was warm and comfortable. Unfortunately, the pillows were quite unpleasant. Yes, they were hard, yes they were lumpy, but they weren't filled with rocks. Instead, it felt like beans or something. Teddy decided he didn't want to know what exactly filled up the pillows.

"Shinny?" Teddy wasn't sure if calling her would summon her, but he decided to try.

Right after he said the name, Shinny appeared quicker than the speed of light, almost startling Teddy. "Yes, Master Teddy?"

"Hey, you don't need to call me 'master'."

"Okay, Master Teddy."

"Er," Teddy decided that it would be futile to argue with a house elf. "Is there a softer kind of pillow around here by any chance?"

"Master Teddy no like these Korean pillows? Then how about cotton pillows?"

"Please, that would be great."

"Shinny will do as you wish!" And she did. She took the two rock-or-bean-filled pillows and came back with two normal cotton pillows.

After thanking her, Teddy lay back and sighed in happiness as his head met the soft pillows. Finally comfortable and exhausted from his travels, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

One thing Teddy never liked to do was wake up for a new day. He hated it, making alarm clocks his worse enemies at times. However, he was just about to experience the rudest alarm clock in his entire life.

_Crash! Bang! Crash! Crash! Bang! Bang! Bang! Ding! Ding! Dong! Dong!_

Teddy flailed awake, thinking he was being attacked. He threw the warm blanket off of him and rushed to the window that was opened wide. He had his wand out and surveyed the view. He then noticed that Draco's house was on a hill. He blinked at the sight that greeted him at the bottom of the hill.

"What in the bloody hell is that?!" He looked at the marching troupe of men and women, dressed in some strange outfits that were blue, red, yellow, black, and white. He saw odd looking hats on the group of twenty people. Half of them were carrying some kind of drumming instruments. One-quarter of them were dancing. The remaining men and women had smaller instruments and were singing some kind of folk song.

Teddy watched this group march around the bottom of the hill, and now that he knew what had woken him up, he felt the adrenaline rush leaving him. He sagged to the floor and wished he could go back to sleep. Instead, though, he had to go get ready. He stood up and looked out the window once more. The marching troupe finally stopped circling the hill and was now headed towards the village. In fact, that's all Teddy saw around outside. All he saw were houses and rice paddies. Rice paddies could be seen miles and miles away. Along with the many rice paddies, in the far distance, he could see the faint outline of some mountains.

"Rice paddies. They are everywhere here. I guess it's the Korean's equivalent of the English moors." Teddy yawned and headed into the bathroom where he took his customary morning cold shower -- he needed one to fully wake up.

While he showered, he remembered that indecipherable energy between Draco and him. He pondered on why he couldn't gauge that strange aura between them. Even that scent, the one that was trying to tell him something, bothered him. As a matter of fact, this was the first time his keen sense of smell had ever failed him. Until now, he had been able to analyse any given situation by sniffing the people he needed to associate with, but with Draco, he couldn't figure it out.

It was seriously frustrating him. He exhaled loudly as he rested his forehead on the cool tiles. The cold water ran over his entire body as he stayed like that for a couple more minutes before he decided to forget about his problem for now. He had other stuff to worry about.

* * *

Teddy walked into the dining room where Draco already was dressed in his usual formal attire, sipping some tea while he read the paper. Teddy took a seat across from Draco. "Good morning."

"Good morning," Draco said, putting the paper down. "Did you enjoy the wake up call?"

Teddy gave him a wary look. "Exactly what was that?"

"Pungmul. That whole troupe is called that, and they usually perform for farming reasons, rural holidays, Shamanistic purposes, and for the village to enjoy. Today just happens to be one of the many minor rural holidays. Hence the pungmul performance this morning."

"I see."

"Although--" Draco smirked at Teddy. "--I'm sure the sounds were louder for you because your windows were opened. I could barely hear them myself."

Teddy studied that smirk. That sneaky, conniving smirk that hid something. "Did you have anything to do with my windows being opened?"

"Oh, no. It wasn't me at all."

"Then who? I can't imagine Shinny doing that."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Oh, for the love of Merlin. You've been around that Weasley joker for years! Think about it!"

"Oh." Teddy had completely forgotten about that live-in prankster. "Mung Chung."

"Yes. Who probably also somehow enhanced the pungmul's volume level to its maximum and directed it straight to your room." He shook his head. "You win the prize for being absolutely dense first thing in the morning. Congratulations."

Just as sarcastically, Teddy retorted, "Thank you. Is my prize the food in front of me? I shall eat then."

For the next ten minutes, the two of them just ate and drank their tea in silence. Their solace was interrupted, though, by the screeching "Fur Elise" doorbell.

Teddy heard Draco mutter, "At least that Mung Chung didn't disable it this time."

Shinny appeared and announced, "Master Draco, the landlady's here. Shall Shinny let her in?"

"Yes, go ahead." Draco quickly turned to Teddy. "Change your hair colour. Look normal."

"I'm a step ahead of you." Teddy got rid of the blue and green streaks in his hair to make himself look "normal". He nodded at Draco and gave him a cheeky grin. "Satisfied?"

"Yes." At that moment, an old lady came in. She was hunched over, and she walked with a cane in one hand and a small kimchi pot wrapped in a cloth with the handle tied in knots with the other. She was dressed in a traditional Korean outfit -- hanbok, was it? Teddy was sure that was the term. Draco helped her sit down, and she and Draco started to speak to each other in Korean. Teddy discreetly cast a translation spell, so he could follow along.

"Delay-co my boy! Don't offer me anything. I only came by for a minute. My family and I made some kimchi, and I know you like fresh kimchi, so I bought you some."

"Oh, Halmeoni, you shouldn't have. You should have called me over and asked me to pick that up instead of you walking up here carrying something so heavy."

"Pshhhh! Do not underestimate me, Delay-co. I may be old, but I have enough energy to make a trip up to my old family home to give my tenant some of his favourite food!" She whacked him in the back with her cane and laughed.

Draco chuckled as well, after he recovered from the impact. "Well, I appreciate it, Halmeoni. Thank you. I'll be sure to enjoy them."

"All right. Here you go." She handed him the kimchi pot. "Remember to put it in the kimchi refrigerator to keep it fresh longer!"

"I will. Thank you again." Draco set the kimchi pot on the table.

"By the way, who is this young man? Quite a handsome fellow there."

Teddy could feel Halmeoni's eyes on him, and he gave her a smile. While the translation spell he was using would translate what others said to him, it would not translate what he said to the other party. Instead, he tried to remember the few Korean phrases he had been taught in the last couple of years. In his broken and limited Korean he said, "Hello. I'm Teddy Lupin. Please to meet your acquaintance."

Draco took over from there. "He's a family member visiting here because he wanted to get some first hand experience of the Korean life and culture."

"Ah. I see. So he's visiting from England, yes? Delay-co's lucky to have someone young and handsome here!" She turned towards Teddy. "And you, Teddy, take care of this old man here. He's too serious. He needs more fun in his life!"

"Halmeoni, I'm not _that_ old!"

Halmeoni just laughed at Draco's protest. "Well, it was a nice quick visit. I must run now. You don't need to show me out the door. I'm not some fragile person made from glass! Continue your breakfast and do let Teddy try some kimchi! I'm leaving now. Goodbye!"

Teddy watched Halmeoni walk out -- quite fast for someone her age -- and ended the translation spell when he heard the door shut. "So that was Halmeoni, your landlady?"

Draco nodded. "Yes. She and her families used to live here, but then many of them decided to move to the bigger cities like Seoul, Busan, and of course Gwangju. Only her oldest son's family remain here, so they decided to get a smaller place built in the village at the bottom of the hill and rent this place out."

"Her name is not 'Halmeoni', right?"

"No. Halmeoni means 'grandmother', but it doesn't have to be amongst relatives."

"That makes sense," Teddy eyed the kimchi pot.

"You want some now?"

"Could I just try a piece?"

"Yes." Draco opened up the kimchi pot, and with a pair of chopsticks, took out one long piece of cabbage covered in red paste, dotted in green vegetables, and smelled of garlic, red pepper, and fish. He put it on Teddy's plate. "It might be spicy so take caution."

Teddy stabbed the cabbage with his fork and was about to take a bite when he felt a presence behind him. He looked and saw it was Mung Chung. The dokkaebi was watching him with interest.

"Did he do something to this?" Teddy couldn't help but ask Draco.

"No. Apparently he likes to watch foreigners eat kimchi. He did the same thing with me."

"Ah." Teddy, ignoring Mung Chung, took a bite of the cabbage. The flavours burst on his tongue. The spiciness from the red pepper paste, the salt-flavour from the fish, and the sweet taste of the lettuce all combined together to give the unique taste of kimchi. He liked it. Teddy proceeded to eat the rest of the long piece of cabbage, and he could feel his mouth burning up and his eyes watering with tears.

Draco just stared at Teddy with an amused expression. "You all right there, Teddy?"

Instead of answering, Teddy grabbed his glass of water and gulped down its contents. He fanned his burning mouth and said, "Yes! Whoo! That was pretty spicy! Oh man, my eyes are tearing up something else! That was good, though. I like it a lot!"

"Mmmph! I thought he'd jump through the roof or something!" Mung Chung disappeared from the room.

Draco just shook his head at both Mung Chung and Teddy. "Glad you like it. I'm going to have Shinny put the rest of this away. I'm done with breakfast. I'll be in my study. When you're ready, come there."

Teddy nodded. Draco took his leave, and it was after he left that Teddy remembered that milk was a better drink to have when eating spicy food. "Time for some milk!"

* * *

Teddy slid the door to the study open and stepped into the large room. He glanced briefly at the many bookshelves along the walls. On one side of the room, there was a big desk, its mahogany wood polished to the point that sunlight from the window reflected off of it. The other side looked much like a sitting room, with couches and armchairs, and a large coffee table in between them. A pile of papers and books lay on the table, and Draco, sitting at one of the couches, was flipping through one of them, with a pen in one hand and a tea cup in the other. Teddy stopped to stare at this image of seriousness and dedication. He watched the sun's rays play with Draco's pale blond hair. While looking, it was then he realised that Draco had on a pair of spectacles, and they complemented his pointy and angular facial structures.

"I didn't know you wore glasses," Teddy pointed towards the stylish frames.

"Only for reading," Draco answered without looking up. He set his tea cup down and waved towards one of the chairs. "Have a seat."

Teddy settled into a comfortable position on the couch across from Draco as he pulled out a notebook and a pen. He waited patiently for Draco to start telling him what needed to be known.

Draco finished whatever he was doing and sat back on the soft cushion. He took off his reading spectacles and put them away in a case. He crossed his legs and rested his hands and arms on the armrests. "Do you know why I am in South Korea?"

"It's because of your interest in Korean magical mythology and folklore, isn't it?"

"That's most of it, yes, but I have another reason for why I am here."

"And that would be?"

Draco gave Teddy an annoyed look. "If you wouldn't interrupt me, I would tell you what you need to know."

"Okay, okay." Teddy succeeded in not rolling his eyes in exasperation at Draco.

"It was a year after my wife had passed away in an automobile accident. Scorpius was at Hogwarts, starting his third year, and I was restless and bored. I was at the Manor, in the library, going through some books. One of those books happened to be a book on Korean mythology. Within the book, though, were some papers that Riddle and somebody by the name of Kim Jung Min had made notes on about the mysterious Earth's Milk."

"Earth's Milk . . . ?" Teddy repeated as he took notes without looking up.

"Yes, Earth's Milk. The Korean term for it is 'Jiyu'." Draco sighed. "Let me back up a bit. In Korean mythology and folklore, there are multiple creation myths. The most famous and popular one is about Dangun, which stems from Buddhist cosmology. There are two more, both of which predate Buddhism. One is Taoist in nature. The one I'm about to explain is from the Totemic and the Shamanistic beliefs called the Mago-Mythology.

"This legend says that the world did not exist in the beginning. Instead, there was a deity named Yul-ryeo and a goddess called Mago. Yul-ryeo died, but Mago gave birth to two more goddesses, and they gave birth to two Men of Heaven and two Women of Heaven. Yul-ryeo was revived after their birth, and at that point, the world was created. Heaven, earth, and oceans were created and infused with Chi, which is soul, along with fire, water, and earth. This in turn gave rise to the plants and animals. The Heavenly People then decided to rule all living things from their heavenly fortress called Magoseong, or Mago's Castle.

"These Heavenly People continued to have more offspring, and twelve of them happen to be the human being's ancestors. These ancestors were said to be pure with supernatural powers. They spoke without making any sounds, acted without seeing, and were immortal. This is where the Jiyu comes into place. That so-called Earth's Milk, which came from a spring inside Magoseong, enabled these ancestors to live their unspoiled heavenly life."

By this time, Teddy had stopped his note-taking and was listening attentively to Draco's lecture. Draco, he decided, had a way with words. Not only that, but Draco made something like a lecture enjoyable. Draco was definitely the opposite of Professor Binns. Instead of putting him to sleep, Teddy actually wanted to learn more about the subject, which was ironic since Teddy was never a fan of history, mythology, or the like.

Draco, however, mistook Teddy's attention for boredom because he said next, "I hope this isn't tedious for you."

"Quite the contrary. This is fascinating stuff."

"Well, I guess you're not a total loss like Albus Severus."

Teddy frowned at that comparison. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, nothing. You know his relationship with Scorpius? Scorpius told me that he tried to tell Albus Severus some of this information, and it put him to sleep. So I just assumed you, being influenced by the Potters, would find this subject dull."

Teddy knew he should be insulted by Draco's assumptions. Instead, though, he decided to just give a smug smile at Draco. "Well, you forgot something. I may be influenced by Harry and all the Potters _plus_ the Weasleys, but I am a Black by blood like you, and I was raised by your aunt, my grandmother, a fellow Black. In fact, let me remind you that we are related."

Teddy watched Draco crack a small smile. "Touché."

"Now do go on. There is more to the explanation." It was said as a statement rather than a question.

"Back to the Jiyu. It wasn't long before overpopulation came to Magoseong, and there was a shortage of these Heavenly People's energy source. Then came the fateful day where one man, by the name of Jiso, decided to give up his share for his fellow people. Another source says he waited too long in line, didn't get his turn, and grew hungry to the point of starvation. The point is that his hunger drove him to try to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff. At its edge, he saw some grapevines. Succumbing to his hunger, he ate the grapes, and acquired the five types of taste.

"He then proceeded to tell the other people, and they, too, ate the grapes. But they soon grew teeth and formed saliva that transformed into venom, and it's all because they ate another living thing to stay alive."

"Wow, so it's kind of like Adam and Eve with the snake in the Garden of Eden," Teddy said, still transfixed on Draco's lecture.

"Yes, the similarity is quite striking in some ways. Like Adam and Eve, their wrongful discovery led them to experience changes and hardships such as their skin becoming coarse, their new lack of purity, and their lifespan shrinking. It wasn't long before Jiso and the others who ate the grapes were told to leave Magoseong. Unfortunately, as they were leaving, Hwang-gun, the direct ancestor of the Korean people, told them that they could regain their purity back and be free from this curse. Jiso and the others decided that they needed to drink some Jiyu to regain their heavenly status. They stormed down the place and tried to find the source of the spring. They found it, but it flowed all over and converted into inedible earth.

"Everyone at Magoseong lost their source of food, and they starved until they started to eat grapes and everything from plants to animals. Things were pretty chaotic, more or less. However, there was hope as Hwang-gun went to Mago herself and begged for forgiveness. He promised her that he would try to help his fellow men and women regain their heavenly nature, and henceforth he gained the Three Heavenly Heirlooms and the knowledge to survive in the world. It was from there that Hwang-gun and three other guardians and their descendants settled in the different parts of the world, with Hwang-gun settling in Korea."

"This is all quite in-depth and captivating." Teddy leaned back into his seat, his notebook and pen lying on the table, forgotten.

"The Jiyu's the reason why I'm here. Riddle and Kim were researching the last remaining three drops of Jiyu somewhere in the world. Their guess was that it's somewhere in Korea, which makes sense because another myth stated that later, after Hwang-gun settled in Korea with his people, he made contact with Mago one last time, and Mago gave him the remaining three drops of Jiyu in a small vial, made of diamond."

"The hardest natural-occurring mineral in the world," Teddy speculated mostly to himself. "To protect the remaining drops. That makes sense."

"Yes, I think that's a natural conclusion, though I wonder when you had time to study geology." Draco took a sip of his tea, still warm due to the heating spells. "Anyway, that's the reason why I am here. Thanks to the findings about the Jiyu, I read and studied more on Korean mythology and folklore. I started to communicate with the scholars and professors here. I visited several times, and then the president of Yonsei University offered me a teaching position at their college of Korean mythology and folklore. I decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to study more about the subject and to do research into the location of the Jiyu."

Draco took out a piece of yellowed paper and showed it to Teddy. On the paper there were foreign looking characters. "Does this tell you of the clue of the location?"

"Yes. However, it's written in the ancient Korean language. Luckily, Kim had already translated it into modern Korean, and this is the riddle in English." He pulled out another piece of paper and handed that to Teddy.

Teddy read:

_In between two warring states of power,  
Divided by a common legacy,  
On a rocky spire, deep within a cave,  
There lies the remnant of the Ancient Past. _

_From the clear waters in its hidden depths  
To the origins of the mighty world,  
The souls of the magic come into place,  
The round pedestal unites and divides._

"That's quite a vague riddle, and I'm amazed it's in iambic pentameter."

Draco nodded. "I'm surprised you even know what iambic pentameter means. But yes, it is. From what I concluded, the Jiyu must be somewhere between North and South Korea, but I haven't found that location yet."

"And you didn't want anybody else to know about this, right? Because the files I received certainly didn't give me this reason for you being here."

"Of course. The MOMS doesn't need to know about this. If they knew, they'd prevent me from locating the Jiyu."

"That's a high possibility. However, it seems like someone else must know about its existence and know you're looking for it as well, hence that attack on you."

Draco grimaced. "Yes, I have come to that conclusion."

Teddy now snapped into his business mode, letting his Auror-trained mind take over the situation. "Logically speaking, there are two other people who know of this because of the notes. Riddle and Kim. Riddle's out of question. But Kim . . . "

"He's dead."

"Oh?"

"He was apparently a _Muggle_ who was visiting England in the 1970s."

Teddy's face hardened at the realisation that hit him and at the way Draco had slightly shifted uncomfortably. "I see. That would explain Riddle getting the notes."

"Yes. Obviously he didn't succeed in finding this, which is probably a good thing. Legend has it that if anyone consumes the last remnant of the Jiyu, then they will gain godlike powers, which I'm sure is the reason why Riddle was interested in it."

"What about the Kim's family?"

"He didn't have any. I looked him up, but the records stated that by the time he was in England, he was the only one left in his family. His parents had already passed away, he was an only child, and he didn't have his own family."

"Well, so much for that angle."

Draco gave a nod. "That's pretty much all the information I have. It's definite that whoever tried to attack me was doing so because of my secret research with the hidden Jiyu, but the 'whodunnit' part is rather elusive. However, they obviously failed, since I am very much alive now."

"And very modest," Teddy teased.

"Shut up," Draco stood up at that point and stretched his arms high in the air. He grabbed a very _fat_ folder full of papers and walked around the table to stand next to Teddy, who was still sitting down.

Teddy looked up, and that same sweet and spicy scent attacked him, thanks to Draco's close proximity. He blinked and tried to make his brain work, but all he could do was let the smell overwhelm him. He felt dazed as he reached out to touch the robe's sleeves, wanting to grab the pale wrist he could see peeking through its clothes.

At the last minute, though, he grabbed the folder.

"Read the rest of this file. I have other things to work on for the day. I have to get lesson plans ready for my classes as well as a couple of quizzes. You can either read it here or go to your room and read. I don't care. Just don't get in my way."

His throat and mouth dry, Teddy just nodded, stood up, and decided to leave the room and read the files somewhere else. Preferably far away from Draco so he could not only concentrate on reading this but also try to guess just what was going on with his sense of smell!

* * *

Really, Teddy shouldn't be surprised that the file contained all the details Draco had already told him. "Guess he didn't trust me to comprehend all this the first time he explained it all!"

Despite that minor complaint, Teddy went through the file thoroughly, and by the time he finished, he could see all the whys, but like Draco, he couldn't see the who and the where. Who else knew about this and where was that last remaining Jiyu?

After going through the file's contents, Teddy grabbed his cup of tea, sat back on the comfortable couch, and relaxed his sore neck and back. He sipped on his drink as he tried to think of ways to get more information about Kim. There were files from the MOMS about this man, but nothing from England.

Just as he set his tea cup down, Draco walked in. "Shinny's cooking. Supper will be ready soon."

"It's that late?" Teddy glanced at his watch, a watch that displayed Britain's time and his current location's time. "Wow, I didn't realise how much time had passed."

"Hn," was the Draco's noncommittal answer.

"I noticed that Kim's information only came from MOMS. Have you tried to find out more about him from our Ministry of Magic?"

"No. I haven't tried."

"How come?"

Draco gave Teddy a sharp look. Underlying that look, Teddy sensed something else. Bitterness. "Even though I was employed by the Ministry, imagine me going to them and asking to see if there was any information regarding a Death Eater's victim. I doubt that would have gone over well."

"It was in the past; I'm sure they wouldn't have questioned your actions since you did join the light side at the end."

Instead of responding, Draco just stared down at Teddy for a long moment. He finally said, "The past is not that easy to forget or forgive."

Teddy didn't rebuke that statement. As much as it disgusted him, what Draco said was the truth. The past haunted people more than they realised. "Then do you mind if I check this out?"

The bitterness that surrounded Draco disappeared as he waved his hand. "Go ahead. I doubt you will find anything useful, though. Now, let's go eat some supper."

Draco left the room, and Teddy, after he cleaned up his mess, went to the dining room. While eating, the two men didn't say much, but when it was time for some dessert, Draco broke the companionable silence.

"Since it would be an extreme shame for you to be in South Korea and not see any of it, we can do some sightseeing tomorrow. Is there anything in particular you would like to see?"

"I don't know if it's a good idea . . . what if someone tries to attack you while we're out?"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" Draco scowled angrily. "I am not going to be a prisoner in my own home because of that attack. I refuse to let that attacker get the best of me. Plus, you will be with me -- something I am not exactly happy about -- so it's not like I'm going to be out by myself!"

Teddy gave in. After all, it was silly to prevent Draco from leaving the place. The man did have to leave to go do his job, after all. "Fine, fine. I would like to see more of Seoul. I am not sure what's good to see there, but I trust you know of some good locations?"

"Yes, I do." Draco scowl lessened in its severity but didn't disappear entirely.

"Then I'll leave it up to you. I trust you won't take me to some sleazy place I will dislike. Though I am not that picky, so any place you choose will be fine with me." Teddy gave Draco a friendly smile to placate him.

A smile that Draco seemed to be immune to. "Taking you to a sleazy place . . . the temptation is there."

Teddy just rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I'm sure."

"I'll think of something. I'll let you know tomorrow."

"Brilliant. Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to ask, why are you all the way out here, near Gwangju instead of Seoul?"

"This place intrigued me the most of all I had seen when I was house hunting. The countryside also reminded me of the moors back home."

Teddy laughed. "Something about these rice paddies sure reminds both of us about the moors."

"Well, they are _green_. Plus with the ability to Apparate and the availability of Portkeys, living a bit out of the way doesn't mean anything to me."

"True. And this area is only about four hours away by car."

"Yes." Draco rose from his seat. "Well, as much as I hate to cut off this pleasantry, I have more work to do before the necessity of sleep overcomes me. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night." As soon as the older man left the room, Teddy could immediately smell the lack of Draco's scent. While it hadn't bothered him during their mealtime, now that the scent wasn't as prominent, he could sense it, and he strangely missed it. Teddy groaned to himself as he wondered just what was up with him and Draco's scent. Just why was he so affected by it? Shoving these unanswerable questions aside, Teddy went to his room to catch up on a mystery novel.

* * *

Next day came with its own share of problems. This made Teddy come to a really simple conclusion: Mung Chung _hated_ him.

It was a blessing that Teddy woke in a normal manner unlike the previous day's rude awakening. However, when Teddy went to have his cold shower, instead of feeling refreshed and energised, scalding, hot water greeted him, and he nearly suffered from what felt like third-degree burns. Luckily, the water cooled back down, and Teddy took a rather uncomfortable shower.

Things just went downhill from then. More childish pranks occurred during breakfast. Teddy discovered that his tea was contaminated with salt, his food burnt to crisp just as he tried to eat some, and the food itself was practically drowned with the spiciest Korean green pepper, something called "chunyang ggo chu". This was also where he learned, from Draco, that "ggo chu" meant not only chilli pepper, but was also slang for "penis". He decided that, considering how this particular pepper was in the shape of a perfect phallus, it made sense for the word to have two meanings.

Teddy was getting sick of the pranks, though. He finally requested Draco to ask Mung Chung to stop.

"Really, I may have worked at Uncle George's WWW store for a year after graduating from Hogwarts, but this is going beyond mere pranks! At this point, that pint-sized thing is going to poison me without me realising it!"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "I'm aware of your involvement with that establishment. That's why I figured you and Mung Chung would get along. It's quite surprising to hear otherwise."

"Even I have limits."

"Again, it's really surprising to hear that from you."

"And," Teddy retorted, "I am _not_ Uncle George nor am I related to Peeves."

"Fine. I'll talk with him after breakfast."

The two of them finished their breakfast. Draco went off to talk with Mung Chung, and Teddy went off to grab his Muggle digital camera -- a gift from Aunt Hermione -- and a few other necessities for a day of sightseeing.

* * *

Without saying a word, Draco grabbed Teddy's hand to do some side-along Apparating. There was a pop, and Teddy's peripheral views of the rice paddies changed into concrete buildings. Not only did his view change, but that scent he was starting recognise as Draco's affected his smell, and that brief holding of the hands brought a jolt of energy. With their hands still clasped, Teddy saw that they had Apparated into a position where Draco was against one of the buildings' walls, and Teddy was right in front of him. There was a good amount of space between them, but it was closer than what should have been "normal" in Teddy's perspective.

Quickly, Teddy took the opportunity to look straight into the Draco's face. While he'd had a good look at the man's body the other day, he realised that he had yet to really look at his face this closely. He studied the sharpness of the facial structure, the barely seen facial hair that covered Draco's cheeks and chin. He looked at the faint lines associated with aging on various parts of the face. He looked at the blond hair that was slicked back, which only showed more of Draco's receding hair line, but Teddy thought that gave the older man a regal look.

However, it was the steel grey eyes that Teddy found himself almost drowning in its depth. He saw fast-moving sparks of energy in them, but in contrast, he could almost see something, like mercurial liquid, deep inside that moved slowly. Teddy had the feeling that the two opposite forces were in harmony with one another. It was as if the sparks represented Draco's vitality -- he wasn't that old by wizarding standards -- and the liquid represented the maturity that comes gradually with age.

Teddy felt like he was in a spell, and if it really was a spell, he found himself wishing that it wouldn't break.

Unfortunately for Teddy, Draco broke the spell by letting go of their hands, and he stepped around Teddy.

"We have Apparated to a safe spot near Sadang Station. I assumed you'd want to try riding Seoul's subway system at least once while here. We'll get on the subway and travel up on line number four to reach our destination of Myeong-dong." Draco started to walk out of the alley, and Teddy followed.

It wasn't long before they reached the stairs that would take them to the underground transport. Below the surface, Teddy watched Draco purchase something at the ticket counter and come back with a card. Draco handed the card to Teddy and said, "This is a T-Money card. You can use it for buses, subways, and even some taxis by scanning it against the machine. Just make sure to charge it when your balance is getting low. Just stick it in your wallet and scan it that way. The machine's quite sensitive, to the point you can have the card in a bag and just scan the bag."

"That's brilliant, really, and convenient. That way, I don't have to constantly take the card out to scan it!"

"Let's go." Draco swiped his own wallet against the machine as he walked the gate.

When they were on the subway, they were able to get seats. Sitting down, Teddy saw a few Koreans staring at him and Draco. He smiled at them, but they just averted their eyes. Teddy remembered being warned about something like this, how some Koreans stared at foreigners in curiosity despite how globalised and westernised South Korea had become in the last half-century.

Or maybe the people stared at both of them because of their differences in clothing style. Draco, formal as always, wore a grey-coloured suit along with a green tie. Over the suit, he had on a long black coat and had on a pair of black dress shoes. While Draco looked like he was headed to do some official business negotiation, Teddy wore loose-fitting jeans, a green hooded sweatshirt over a tee-shirt, and finished off with some Converse sneakers. Slung over him was a messenger bag, where he carried his camera and other stuff.

Quite honestly, Teddy could see why they were stared at, but he didn't care. He wanted the excursion to be a comfortable one, and if Draco was comfortable in suits, then so be it. Beside, he actually found the suits meshed well with the older man.

"I'm glad your hair isn't in some radical shade," said Draco, breaking the silence between the two of them.

"I told you, when we're in public, I won't draw unwanted attention."

"That you did." Draco paused for a minute. "Thank you for that."

Teddy smiled, the same smile that had been said could charm the pants off of a Norwegian Ridgeback. Teddy saw something change in Draco's grey eyes, but it was too quick to see what it exactly was.

Draco looked up at the signboard that flashed which stop they were approaching. "We'll be there shortly."

Teddy reached into his wallet to pull out his wallet-sized, foldable Seoul subway map. He scanned it. "We're on line number four, right? The sky-blue line?"

"Yes."

Teddy found Sadang and then he travelled up north to look for Myeong-dong. "Found it and we're approaching Ichon-station, so that means we have more six more stops. About how long will that take?"

"Twenty more minutes or so." Right when Draco said that, the dark underground tunnels became light as they were outside now, crossing a bridge across a river.

Teddy looked out the windows to watch the scenery pass by. "We're crossing the Han River, aren't we?"

"You're correct." Just then an older woman came down the train, and when she was in front of Teddy, Draco stood up and offered her his seat in Korean.

Teddy decided to stand up as well, deciding that he wanted to see how well his balance was on the shaky train. He stood next to Draco, holding onto the seat's metal bar. "That was generous of you."

"It's an unspoken rule here to give the older citizens, pregnant women, disabled citizens, and the religious nuns and monks your seat."

Teddy recalled Uncle Ron talking about the past when he was in one of his moods. One thing Uncle Ron liked to reminiscence about was the good ol' days of his early years at Hogwarts, in particular about how Draco Malfoy was an "arse-faced, pompous, self-centred git who pranced around talking about how the Purebloods were the real wizards and witches". If Teddy was to apply that description to the present Draco, he would agree with the "pompous, self-centred git" part, but he could see that time had toned Draco's xenophobic attitude down a lot.

He was thinking so hard that he almost missed what Draco said next. "I'm glad Seoul's subway system is convenient. Much more than Tokyo's. I had the unfortunate privilege of being privy to their subways once because I had a conference there, and it was more hectic and confusing than Seoul's. When I came back to Seoul, I decided never to complain about Seoul's subway system."

Teddy laughed at that. "One of my co-workers, stationed in Tokyo, told me that as well. He said that he had a love-hate relationship with that subway system. He loved it because it was cheap compared to other public transportation, but he hated the JR Line or something another."

"Yes, the JR Line is quite annoying in the sense that the map they gave us didn't list all the stops compared to the real JR Line that were displayed at the stations."

"That's odd how not all the stations are on the map. Very perplexing."

"Indeed." Draco looked up at the board. "Three more stops."

"Exactly what is Myeong-dong?"

"It's a popular shopping district, especially for the younger generation. Not only does it serve as a shopping area, but it has a lot of bars, cafes, and restaurants for people to easily hang out with their friends. Unfortunately, it is like a giant labyrinth, many streets and alleyways are tangled up in there, so if you want to look for a store in the middle of Myeong-dong, good luck. Thankfully, I know the outer edges of the area fairly well, and then we can get lost in the middle for a while if you'd like."

"You must have gone there a lot to be familiar with it."

Draco nodded. "A lot of previous visits led me here, and MOMS is located only fifteen minutes away from Myeong-dong, so I ventured out here with my business associates for a drink or two. The wizards and witches here are more or less part of the Muggle society, all blending seamlessly with each other."

"Ah," Teddy said, moving towards the door, "we're here."

They stepped out onto the platform, and Draco led the way. It wasn't long before they climbed the flight of stairs where noisiness and crowdedness greeted the two of them.

"Wow." Teddy looked around, taking in the multitude of people and the various vendors that were lined up down the streets. "This reminds me of a crowded version of Diagon Alley."

Draco grabbed onto Teddy's messenger bag's strap. "Let's start walking. I'm going to hold onto this, if you don't mind. As much as I'm not crazy about having a baby-sitter, I don't fancy the idea of you being lost in Myeong-dong by yourself."

"You think you have a baby-sitter? I think you just turned the tables here in making me feel like I'm being baby-sat!" Teddy sniggered good-naturedly.

"Oh, trust me. That was my intention." Draco tugged the strap. "Let's go. If you see something interesting or want to go in a store, let me know."

The two of them walked down the streets where Teddy looked at each vendor to see what was being sold. A lot of it dealt with fashion and food, though he wasn't really interested in the former. However, he did see items that he knew he could buy for his grandmother and Victoire.

As if reading his mind, Draco asked, "See something you want to buy Victoire?"

"Yes, but . . . " Teddy shifted uncomfortably. "We're not together right now."

"Oh? I thought you were going to be like your godfather and the rest of the Weasleys where you marry and quickly have about a thousand children. You're surprisingly still single."

Teddy didn't say anything. This prompted Draco to continue. "But then again, I did notice how your godfather separated from his wife, so maybe he wasn't meant to have that domestic lifestyle."

"Probably." Teddy let out a sigh and decided to just tell Draco his situation. "Maybe I'm not meant to get into that lifestyle either. I actually was the one who told Victoire we should . . . separate for a while."

"Really?" Draco raised his eyebrow. "That's quite surprising. Why, if I may ask?"

"The answer's simple: I don't love her. I mean, I love her like a best friend, but something's telling me that she's not the one."

"You never struck me as the type to believe in predestination," Draco noted dryly.

"That's the thing. It's not about fate or destiny. It's . . . my sense of smell."

"Smell?" Draco frowned until realisation dawned on him. "I see. I wasn't aware of what werewolf genetic does to the offspring."

While they walked deeper into Myeong-dong, Teddy explained his sense of smell, and how he used it with his job. Teddy's love life now forgotten, the two of them talked about various Ministry and Auror topics along with Draco's job as a professor. They even talked about Draco's previous job at the Ministry where he worked as one of the analysts for the Department of Mysteries.

They talked while Teddy shopped and took pictures. He bought something for his grandmother and caved in to buy something for Victoire. He planned to use it as a means of reconciling with Victoire and hoped the two of them could be friends.

It wasn't long before he saw people walking around with tall soft ice cream cones, and then he wanted one! Luckily, he found the place that sold them. They were really cheap and very long -- the store's sign saying it was thirty two centimetres long. He got the chocolate cone while Draco bought vanilla. Before he started on the cone, though, he whipped out his digital camera and took a picture of himself with it.

"Folks back home won't believe this is real!" Teddy said excitedly. "Especially when I tell them the price."

Draco gave Teddy a small smile. "I'm amused that such a small thing as ice cream would make you act like some hyperactive brat."

Teddy ignored the insult and ate his cone before it melted into a sticky mess. They walked around with the ice cream, and when it was gone, Teddy perused the streets and stores some more.

* * *

The next three hours passed by quickly, and Teddy had to agree with Draco when he said, "Let's go eat a proper meal."

He hadn't realised how much time had passed. That would explain his hunger. "Well, I'm game for anything. If you know of a good place, let's just go there."

Teddy followed Draco into a traditional Korean restaurant. He saw that the establishment was one where customers sat on the floor on some cushions, and ate like that. He knew he had to take his shoes off to get up onto the dining area. That wasn't surprising. What was surprising was to see Max eating with a female companion.

"Well, I'll be. What are the chances of us meeting in a big place like Seoul?" Max stood up and walked over to them. "Fancy meeting you guys here!"

Teddy nodded, "What a coincidence."

Draco folded his arms across his chest. "I think Max is stalking us."

"Oh, you wound me! How can you say something like that when we're such great friends?"

Draco gave him a pinched look. "_Great friends_? You may have come to that conclusion, but I most certainly haven't!"

Max ignored Draco's comment and instead slung an arm across Teddy's shoulders. "Come, come! Feel free to join us! Here, let me introduce my girlfriend!" He dragged Teddy over to his table with Draco following.

The young woman, about Max's age, stood up to greet them. In English, she said, "Hello, I'm Pak Jin Sil. Pleased to meet you."

Teddy studied the woman in front of him. She actually looked very plain. She had on tight jeans and wore a simple black turtleneck shirt with a beige-coloured jacket over it. Her long black hair was in a ponytail, and she wore a necklace. Well, Teddy couldn't help but see that it was more like a small pouch, the size of a snitch, on strings, but he just guessed that she wore it like a necklace.

Just how in the world such a normal looking girl got together with wild and crazy Max was beyond Teddy's guess. He tried to see if Draco looked as bewildered as himself, but Draco just looked indifferent as usual. He did greet Jin Sil politely.

_Ah, yes, he's using the Malfoy charm on her._ Teddy smiled and subtly sniffed her out. There wasn't anything dangerous or suspicious about her, so he greeted her. "Nice to meet you, Jin Sil. I'm Teddy."

"Ah, yes, Max told me about you and Draco. I'm glad to finally meet you two in person!" She gave the two of them a friendly smile. Then she gestured for them to sit down. "Sit! Let's eat together."

"Great," Teddy said. "I'm starving."

The four of them shared a big meal of bulgogi and galbi, basically two different meat dishes that came with many small side dishes that included kimchi, some lettuce to wrap the meat in with some soybean paste called dwaenjang, and a bowl of rice. Teddy, while he had tried bulgogi in London once, decided that nothing beat real Korean bulgogi and galbi!

The four of them ate and talked with each other. Halfway through the meal, Max ordered some soju, the Korean version of vodka -- which was what Teddy came to the conclusion of -- and all four shared a shot or two of the clear alcoholic drink.

Teddy discovered that it tasted pretty vile. He couldn't help it as he made a face after he downed his first shot. Teddy watched Draco drink like a pro, and said, "You don't find the taste a bit unpleasant?"

"Nope. I've had time to get used to it. It's actually not bad, though. Taste a lot better than Korean beer if you ask me, though nothing beats brandy."

Teddy tried one more shot before he decided that he'd stick with the Korean beer that Draco found disgusting. At least it tasted better than soju!

* * *

After spending a couple of hours eating, drinking, and talking, Teddy and Draco decided to finally end the meal. To be accurate, Draco was the one who said, "As much as the meal was pleasant and all, I think it's time for us to part ways."

"Aw, come on Draco, you can stick around longer!" Max exclaimed.

However, Jin Sil went against Max's idea. "Max, I'm sure they have plans. We can just meet up with them again sometime in the near future."

Teddy nodded. "I agree. We can just meet up again for dinner or something."

Max jutted out his lips for a few seconds before he burst out laughing. "Fine. We'll do that."

While this was going on, Teddy saw that Draco had already gone up to the register to pay for their entire meal. Draco came back and said, "Jin Sil, it's been a pleasure to meet you. Teddy, are you ready?"

"Wait, wait, wait! You paid the entire thing?!" Max stood up to put his shoes on.

"Yes."

"Oh, thank you, but you didn't have to," Jin Sil said, reaching out to calm her boyfriend down.

"It's not a big deal. It's only natural that the oldest one here pays it all. Now, if you'll excuse us." Draco bowed at them.

Teddy awkwardly followed suit and after saying his final farewell to the couple, he followed Draco out the restaurant. Once they were back out on the busy streets of Myeong-dong, Teddy thanked Draco as well.

"You don't need to thank me."

"Oh, but I do need to thank you," Teddy insisted. "I know that probably cost quite a bit of sum."

"It was nothing." Draco gave Teddy a look that plainly said to drop the subject.

"Okay. Now, what are we going to do?"

"We're going to the Myeong-dong's version of 'The Leaky Cauldron', and we're going to Apparate to the safe spot located halfway up to the Seoul Tower on Namsan Mountain." Draco once again grabbed onto the bag's strap.

"That sounds like fun," Teddy grinned as he dodged through the crowd with Draco hanging onto his bag.

"Yes, and we're lucky today's a nice, clear day. It will be great for you to see the city from there."

It wasn't long until the two of them arrived at "The Spicy Cabbage" establishment. Draco greeted the bartender. Teddy looked around the small, cramped place. Despite its size, though, it held a cosy atmosphere, and he saw kimchi pots and posters of different kimchi all over the place. After Draco finished his brief talk with the bartender, he again grabbed onto Teddy's hand, and with a pop, they disappeared.

Teddy blinked at their new location. It was a wooded area, and off to the side, he saw a path.

"Let's go," Draco led the way.

After a pleasant walk up the rest of the mountain, they reached the top and walked into the tower. They paid a small fee to get up to the observation decks. Once up there, Teddy admired the view of the whole city. He took pictures of the views, capturing all the buildings, streets, and the Han River. Off in the distance, he saw a tall brownish building.

"What's that?"

"Hn?" Draco followed Teddy's line of the sight. "That tall building is the DLI 63 building. That, too, has an observation deck and even an aquarium to visit. However, if you want an aquarium to explore, the one at Coex Mall is better, from what I've been told."

"Fascinating. There is so much to see here!"

Draco smiled at Teddy's enthusiasm. "Well, during the holidays, after Christmas, Scorpius and Albus Severus are thinking about coming by for a visit, which naturally means tourism. I'm sure, if you're still around here, you can accompany them."

"Sounds like a plan," Teddy agreed.

They stayed there until night-time came. With the darkened skies, the whole city lit up beautifully. From the streetlights to all the glowing buildings, Teddy couldn't help but be enamoured by the view as he snapped away with his camera.

After Teddy had his fair share of pictures, he and Draco decided to have supper in the rotating restaurant up on the fourth deck. This time Teddy insisted on paying for their meal, and throughout it, they talked some more about Korean mythology, comparing it to the western ones.

Before they left the tower, Teddy stopped by the gift shop to buy more gifts and souvenirs for himself and his friends and family. He put them into his bag, after casting a discreet shrinking charm, and soon he and Draco found a quiet, secluded place to Portkey back to Draco's home in Gwangju.

"Thanks a lot for today," Teddy said once they were back in the house. "I appreciate it, and it was a blast, really."

"Not a problem," Draco sat down on the nearest couch in the sitting room. He waved his hand to make the fire come to life in the fireplace. Teddy sat down on the spot next to Draco, and he watched the other man loosened his tie after removing his suit jacket and overcoat.

Draco sighed as he leaned against the couch. "I'm quite exhausted from our excursion. I think I will turn in earlier than usual tonight. Thank goodness I already finished all my work last night."

Teddy, not wanting Draco to turn cranky, agreed with him. "Do go. Don't worry about me."

Draco gave him a look. "Who said I would worry about you?"

"I simply meant that you don't need to play host here. Just go off to bed. I can take care of myself."

Draco just rolled his eyes and stood up. "Fine, fine. Just don't break anything here."

"May I borrow your fireplace to Floo call Harry and ask about looking up any information regarding Kim? I won't mention the full story of why you're here."

"You may." Draco started to walk out of the room, slinging his jacket and coat over his shoulder. "The powder's on top of the mantel. I doubt Potter and the rest of the Ministry officials will be able to find any information, but far be it for me to talk you out of it. Good night, now."

"Good night."

Once Draco was gone, Teddy stood up, went to the mantel, grabbed some powder and called out to Harry Potter at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. It was Sunday afternoon there, and he expected his godfather to be home.

However, when he was connected to Number 12, Grimmauld Place, he saw Neville Longbottom instead of Harry at first, which shouldn't be a surprise since after Harry's divorce from Ginny, he seemed to have found his new love with Neville.

"Oh, hello, Teddy!" Neville cheerfully said. "Harry's -- ah -- off in the kitchen. I'll go get him."

Neville went out of view, and it wasn't long before Teddy saw his godfather's familiar face. "Teddy! What's the occasion? Is everything going all right with you and Malfoy?"

Teddy gave a big smile to his godfather. "I'm fine. Draco and I are adapting to each other. We actually just came back from a day of sightseeing in Seoul."

"In Muggle territory?" Teddy saw the look of disbelief on Harry's face. "I, well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. People do change over a long period of time."

"Oh, I wouldn't entirely say that," Teddy sniggered. "He's still prickly and snobbish as ever, not to mention sarcastic, but he must have changed. He doesn't exactly match up with Uncle Ron's description of him from the past."

"Hn," Harry rubbed his chin. "Well, I doubt you Floo called me to talk about comparing and contrasting Malfoy from now and the past. What's up?"

Teddy explained briefly without going into the full details. "Is it possible you can find more information about him, even if it isn't anything helpful?"

"Not a problem. I'll take care of it and will let you know of anything that comes up."

"Thanks, Harry. I'll let you get back to Neville."

Teddy saw the slightly embarrassed smile on his face. "You take care now. Keep in touch."

Teddy nodded and ended the Floo call. _Now, it's time for me to get some sleep . . . after I sort out all the stuff I bought._

* * *

Luckily, whatever talk Draco had with Mung Chung worked because his mornings were pretty much left alone. No more rude awakenings and pranks occurred; at least nothing obvious. Like whenever his pens or the tea he was drinking disappeared, he knew or suspected Mung Chung. However, since it was so minor, he let it pass and only tried to "compliment" the dokkaebi by throwing out comments like "Hope you enjoy the tea," or something mundane like that.

The day after their sightseeing happened to be Monday. Draco had to go back to work at Yonsei University, and Teddy followed him. Dressing in a pair of black trousers with a grey jumper over a white collared shirt, he pretended to be Draco's new teaching assistant, who came in the middle of the school term because he was delayed at the immigration office with some visa problems.

Naturally, Draco didn't exactly accept the idea easily. Teddy suffered through the brief grumblings from Draco who had grumped about how this was another way for Teddy to constantly follow him as a baby-sitter. However, Draco grudgingly accepted the idea because he explained the sooner Teddy figured out what was going on, the sooner he could solve it.

So every morning and afternoon, from Monday to Friday, Teddy sat in the back of Draco's classroom, pretended to take notes, kept an eye out for anyone who might be suspicious, and ate lunch with Draco in the campus' cafeteria or at one of the many small restaurants outside the campus.

He also found himself actually listening to Draco's lecture. Thanks to the usefulness of translation charms, much like that night where Draco explained about the Jiyu, Teddy found himself entranced by Draco's powerful and thought-provoking lectures. Each day, he learned more about Korean mythology and folklore. Each day, he learned something new and different about Draco by watching the way he interacted with his students. Each day, he felt something change within him, but he didn't know what it was.

When the final class ended each day, Teddy would put the room back in order, grade whatever assignments and quizzes he could grade, input what was graded into the grade book, and anything else that would help Draco have time to prepare for the next day and to open up time for the two to research more about the Jiyu.

During the next couple of weeks, the two of them fell into a comfortable routine. Somewhere along the line, they formed an easy partnership. They still bickered, but the "dislike" Draco had at the beginning and Teddy's wariness towards Draco disappeared as the two settled into intellectual debates about various different topics over their meals and tea instead.

On some days, after class and on Saturdays, Draco would take Teddy to explore a new area of Seoul or different parts of South Korea. This gave Teddy more tastes of the richness of South Korean lifestyle and culture. He saw the foreigner's haven of Itaewon where there were more bars, restaurants, and coffee shops combined with stores and street vendors. The artsy district of Insa-dong where traditional arts, crafts, and antiques could be seen along the long stretch of streets impressed him, and a fair amount of spending money was used there. Teddy even went to a Buddhist Temple, called Bongeunsa, in the middle of Gangnam, right across the street from Coex Mall, and he was amazed how quiet the area was despite it being next to a busy street in a city.

Outside of Seoul, Draco took him to Seoraksan, the highest mountain of the Taebaek mountain range located in Gangwon province, in the north-eastern part of the country. Teddy enjoyed their time there, as he always liked the simple beauty of nature. He was fond of the hike up the mountain to see the trees' leaves change colours, and he took pleasure from seeing the beautiful waterfalls.

Another day, Draco suggested one of his favourite places, Gyeongju, a city in Gyeongsanbuk province, known as the capital of the Silla Kingdom in far away times. There, Teddy saw the giant burial mounds of previous kings and other historical figures. He also stopped by another Buddhist Temple called Bulguksa which held seven national treasures of South Korea. While still in Gyeongju, Teddy saw the Cheomseongdae, one of the oldest astronomical observatories in East Asia. Gyeongju really was a great place to visit for cultural and historical reasons. Teddy could see why Draco enjoyed the visits here.

Sundays were a day of rest. Both of them stayed home, or at least in the area when they wanted to go out for an evening walk, but they used the day to rest and catch up on whatever they needed to do. They sat in the sitting room, read books together while sipping their teas or the occasional glass of brandy, talked and researched together on their case. Shinny popped in here and there to remind the two men to eat. Mung Chung, more or less, left them alone.

Really, his days were actually quite peaceful. So peaceful, that more than once, Teddy had to remind himself that this was not some leisurely visit. Draco's life was threatened, and he had to figure out just who could have done it and why. Not only that, but the question of the Jiyu's location was so elusive. He wondered if that so-called diamond container existed at all.

It was during a Sunday towards the end of the month when Draco said, "I have a new seminar class. Twice a week -- Mondays and Thursdays -- for the entire month of November, I'm to teach this new class from four to seven in the afternoon."

"Really? Well, your schedule's pretty easy as it is, so an extra seminar won't be a problem."

"There's no problem. I was simply telling you the change in my schedule."

"Ah, I got you," Teddy grinned.

Draco paused before he continued. "You know, you've been with me these past couple of weeks now. There hasn't been any threat against me. No attacks, notes, nothing."

"And . . . ?" Teddy cocked his head to the side. "Is that your subtle way of telling me that I am not needed, and that all this idea of you being targeted is all nothing but conjectures?"

"You summed it up nicely."

"But what if it isn't? What if we drop our guard now, and then something happens to you? Then you'd be dead and all that you have dedicated your life to won't be fulfilled," argued Teddy, setting his lips in a straight line and giving Draco a determined look. "I will not let that happen to you. I will not fail in this."

Draco let out a small smile. "Are you done with your speech? I just wanted to say that I'm glad that you're the one following me around instead of Potter, or _worse_, Weasley. You're not bad company once we got over our mutual dislike for one another."

"Mutual dislike? Wha--? Don't you mean _your_ dislike of me because of my association with my godfather and Uncle Ron?" Teddy asked, flabbergasted.

"Oh, you didn't like me. I'm well aware of the stories you heard about me from your relations. Therefore, you were wary and suspicious of me, right? I'll just categorise that as 'mutual dislike'."

Teddy just rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Whatever you say."

Draco laughed before he stood up. "Well, I think I shall turn in early. See you tomorrow morning." He walked towards the exit, passed by Teddy, patted him on the shoulder, and left.

When Draco left the room, Teddy had the biggest epiphany in his life. For the past couple of weeks, he'd been struggling to try to decipher just what Draco's scent meant to him. He couldn't come up with any logical answers to his private dilemma. However, with the image of Draco's laughing face in his mind and the way his shoulder tingled from where Draco's hand touched him, he had a reaction within him. A reaction that triggered a familiar sensation in his groin.

Somehow and somewhere between his first day here and now, he had come to fancy Draco Malfoy. He recalled that first night when he met Draco, the way the older man's smell had affected him. Now he knew why. His sense of smell was telling him that Draco _was_ the one for him. He felt this in his gut, like the way he knew when his nose had told him that Victoire _wasn't_ the one for him.

Instead, though, it had to be Draco Eltanin Malfoy of all the people in the world.

All Teddy could say softly to himself for the next hour was, "Fuck, fuck fuck fucking fuck. _Fuck_, I'm screwed."

* * *

_November 2024_

A week passed. Teddy shoved his unexpected revelation aside as he went about his daily routine with Draco. Unfortunately for Teddy, now that he _knew_ just exactly what Draco's scent had been trying to tell him the last month, Draco's smell bothered him in ways that made him feel like a horny teenager again. Needless to say, his time in the showers was spent mostly wanking off to naughty thoughts of the man he was supposed to protect.

It was after one of those wanking session that Teddy noticed Draco giving him odd looks at breakfast one morning. As casually as he could, he asked, "Is something the matter?"

Draco let out a cough before he drawled, "You know if you are that sexually repressed, you can -- ah -- go out for a night or something."

Teddy blushed harder than he ever had in his life. This was the most embarrassing moment of his life. More embarrassing than when he was caught by Headmistress McGonagall with Victoire in the Astronomy tower, where he snuck in to see her after he graduated from Hogwarts.

"I, er, that, er, I'm not . . ." After he fumbled around with his words he finally blurted, "How did you know?!"

"Easy." Draco gave him a solemn look. "Two words: Mung Chung. I guess I should have warned you that he has voyeuristic tendencies. He watched you, and he came and told me each time you did it, which drew me to the conclusion that you need to go out for a while and get it out of your system."

Teddy gaped at Draco. He couldn't believe just how composed Draco was, discussing something this embarrassing like a weather reporter. "I . . . " He stood up so fast that his chair almost fell backward. "I'm done with breakfast. I'll go get ready first."

As soon as Teddy was in the safety of his own room he sank to the floor as he leaned against the closed door. He buried his face in his arms as he pulled his legs up to him. He almost lost it in there. When Draco suggested he should take a night out in town, he had wanted to slam his hands down on the table in anger. He wanted to shout at Draco, "I don't need anyone to give me a one-night stand! I want to be with you, preferably longer than one night!"

Teddy raised his head up and stared at the ceiling and thought, _Fuck. Good thing I left before I could really muck everything up by saying that._

Suddenly remembering that Mung Chung was indubitably the cause of Teddy's frazzled morning, Teddy shouted, "Mung Chung! I need to talk with you!"

Mung Chung appeared with a cheeky smile. "Yes?"

Lowering his voice, Teddy leaned in very close to the dokkaebi in front of him. In a controlled but angry voice, he said, "Will you please not spy on me?"

"Spy?"

"Yes and don't tell Draco everything I do that's personal!"

"But he's the master of this house. He needs to know what's going on."

"Not every single little detail like what you told him about me!"

Mung Chung cocked his head to the side. "Then can I tell him the big detail?"

That threw Teddy for a loop. He quickly collected himself and said, "What big detail?" After he asked that, he suddenly had an idea to what Mung Chung was referring to. He felt his stomach churn uncomfortably.

"You know what I'm talking about," Mung Chung, apparently bored, started to play with his magical club, the bangmangee.

"How'd you find --?"

"Easy. That night? When you were saying 'Puck, puck, puck,' over and over again, I saw that look on your face when the realisation came to you."

Just like the way he had stared at Draco earlier, now he gawked at Mung Chung in disbelief. _Puck? Oh, wait, he means "fuck". Korean language doesn't have an actual "f" sound. Damn. For a prankster, he's pretty perceptive._

However, what Mung Chung said next really shocked Teddy. "I won't tell him that, though. Dokkaebi promise. Remember, you owe me! Just make sure you protect the master of the house." With an impish smile, Mung Chung disappeared from Teddy's view.

"Well, I'll be damned . . . " Teddy let out a soft snigger that grew into a loud, relief-filled laugh. So loud, that Draco came to the door and banged on it several times.

"Quit laughing and hurry up so we won't be late!"

"Okay, okay! I'm coming." He quickly calmed his laughter and made himself presentable. He grabbed his coat and his bag and rushed out to where Draco was waiting with the Portkey.

* * *

This was the first day of Draco's new Monday and Thursday seminar. It was a fairly small class; there were only about fifteen people as opposed to the usual thirty to forty students in Draco's regular classes. However, Teddy was surprised to see Jin Sil, Max's girlfriend, there in the class. When they met in Myeong-dong, she never mentioned that she was a student at Yonsei. Well, she did mention she was a college student just that Teddy couldn't remember which college she attended.

Through the entire seminar, Teddy watched Jin Sil, watched how she paid attention to Draco's lecture, and watched her take scrupulous notes in her notebook. He also noticed that there seemed to be a hint of sadness lingering about her. Soon, the session ended, and Jin Sil approached Teddy and Draco.

"Hello, again. When I signed up for this class, I wasn't aware that you, Professor Malfoy, were the teacher. Nor was I expecting Mr. Lupin to be your assistant."

"Yes, well, I wasn't expecting you to be a student here! I thought Max mentioned you were a student at Sookmyung's Women College," Draco said.

"Oh, I am. However, this seminar sounded really interesting, so that's why I decided to take it. I am still a primary student at Sookmyung, though."

Teddy smiled. "Well, we're glad to see you here. How's Max? Maybe after one of these seminars, we should all go out for a meal again." He gave Draco a questioning look, to which Draco nodded.

Jin Sil's eyes lit up at the idea. "I'll mention that to Max. I'll let you know when we can take up that offer." She looked at her watch and said, "I must run now. Good night, Professor and Mr. Lupin."

She left.

Teddy turned to Draco and said, "Well, that was a pleasant surprise."

"Yes, I must yell at Max for not telling me this."

"Perhaps she didn't tell Max. Or she did, but he forgot to tell us."

"Hn. That's probably it." Draco packed his stuff and turned to Teddy. "Ready?"

Teddy nodded, and the two of them touched the Portkey after they went to their normal secluded spot. Their hands brushed against each other, and Teddy stared at the spot on his hand before he was jerked into that familiar sensation. When they were back in Draco's place, Teddy remembered his conversation with Mung Chung, and it took every ounce of his power to look normal and not blush his silly head off.

Thankfully, the rest of the night passed by without a hitch.

* * *

The next few days passed as the second session of the seminar occurred. Teddy noticed that Jin Sil looked tired and depressed. She also looked as if her mind was a thousand miles away from the seminar. His thoughts were proven right when the seminar ended. Everyone packed and left except for her. While Draco reorganised his notes, Teddy went up to Jin Sil.

"Are you all right?" he asked, coming up to stand by her seat.

Jin Sil slowly looked up, tears in her eyes that she tried to sniff away. She hastily swiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry. I just . . ."

Draco came up to stand next to Teddy. Wordlessly, he just handed her a handkerchief. She accepted it and wiped her eyes on it. "I'm sorry. It's just that last night my pet dog was put to sleep. He'd been sick the last couple weeks, and last night was his time."

"I see," Teddy said. "I'm sorry to hear about that. It's hard losing a loved one, whether they are human or animals."

Jin Sil took a deep breath before she forced a smile. She looked up at Draco. "I'm sorry, Professor, for not doing my best in class today."

"Please don't worry about it. In fact," Draco walked back to his desk to grab his spare lecture notes and brought them to her, "here are tonight's lecture notes. I know that it was hard for you tonight, and I have to admit, I'm surprised you came to class despite the way you were feeling."

Teddy had to admit that he wasn't expecting Draco to be this understanding or comforting. Then again, though, he wondered if Draco was thinking about the day his wife had died.

Jin Sil accepted the notes and thanked Draco profusely. She stood up and packed her stuff before remembering the handkerchief. "Thank you again, Professor." She tried to hand the cloth back to Draco, but he just smiled and shook his head. "Keep it."

Teddy chimed in, too, "Yeah. He probably has more of them stashed in his coat pocket. He can afford to get about twenty more as it is."

That broke the solemn atmosphere in the room as Jin Sil sniggered, especially when she saw the dirty look Draco gave Teddy. Teddy just grinned and shrugged. "Did I speak wrongly here?"

Sighing, Draco rolled his eyes and smirked. "No, you spoke the truth."

Thanking Draco again, Jin Sil left and the two men started to get their stuff ready to head home

* * *

That Saturday, Draco suggested they go check out the Seoul Grand Park Zoo. "I have discovered that I enjoy going to the zoos to see the animals. However, I cannot stand the stench, so if you hear me cast the air purifying spell, then you know why."

The two of them spent the whole day at the zoo. They walked around and looked at the various different animals the zoo offered. True to his word, Draco did cast the spell more than once, but luckily nobody around them questioned the sudden shift of smells. At one point, Teddy whispered into Draco's ear, "They are probably glad that the animal odours are not as strong."

"Of course. Tell me anyone who would enjoy being around this animal smell all day long."

"That's easy. Hagrid."

Draco scoffed. "That giant oaf is barely even human, so it makes sense why he'd be happy to be surrounded by animals every day."

As per usual, they continued their banter all day long. They ended their day at a Korean barbecue restaurant in Itaewon called Don Valley. It was a nice clean place, and Teddy and Draco were both satisfied by the hearty meal.

Finally home, exhausted from the long day, Teddy collapsed into his bed after washing up, glad to get some sleep in his system. He looked forward to sleeping in. However, he should have known that these simple wishes were never granted for him, or at least when it came to him wanting some decent kip.

Teddy groaned in pain as he realised that he had been literally thrown out of his bed by that pint-sized troublemaker. "Mung Chung!" Teddy sat up on the floor to look at the clock on his night table. "It's three in the morning!"

"Come. Master's in trouble."

"Wha--?" That woke him up immediately as he grabbed his wand. He bolted out of his room and ran down to Draco's room. He heard the muffled screams, realising that Draco had enforced silencing charms on his door.

Without thinking, he rushed into the room, his wand in front of him. He quickly glanced around the room but didn't see anybody but Draco on the bed. It took him a second to comprehend that Draco was tossing and turning on the bed because of a nightmare. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he quickly shook Draco. "Draco! Draco! Wake up. It's just a nightmare!"

Teddy's voice broke through Draco's consciousness. Draco gasped as he woke up. It looked as if Draco was going to jump out of his bed, but Teddy grabbed him by the shoulders and firmly but gently pushed him back. "It's okay. It's okay. It's just me, Teddy. You're all right. You're safe." He could feel the man's sweat-soaked pyjama top beneath his hand, and he could feel Draco shaking from the aftermath of his nightmare.

"Teddy?" Draco's voice was hoarse.

"Yes, it's me. You were having a nightmare."

He watched Draco closed his eyes. "It was horrible. It was . . ."

"Shush," Teddy put a finger against Draco's dry lips. "We'll talk about it later. For now, do you want water or anything?"

Draco shook his head. "Just . . . stay. Please?" He slumped back on his pillow and scrubbed his face as he took several deep breaths.

Teddy knew that he should just remain sitting on the edge, but Draco looked so shaken, that he decided to sod logic as he lay down on the bed. On his side, he pulled Draco to his chest and wrapped his arms protectively around Draco's waist and shoulders. Teddy could feel and smell Draco's fear. He heard the quick, staccato heart beats slowly decrease in the tempo, eventually followed by Draco's deep breathing, indicating that the man had drifted to sleep.

Instead of falling asleep himself, Teddy lay awake for a long time. He couldn't believe that he was in Draco's bed, had Draco in his arms, and was watching the man sleep away next to him. With the warm body right beside him and the spicy scent lingering all around him, it took every ounce of his willpower to keep his other head from jumping up in excitement. He tried to imagine the most disgusting thing he could think of.

He thought of McGonagall naked. Thoughts of Hagrid prancing around in a hot pink evening gown made him shudder. The imagery of Flitwick in a bondage outfit did the trick as he closed his eyes so tight that his libido was clamped down tightly as well. With that, he finally fell asleep with his arms still around Draco

* * *

When he woke up the next morning, he found himself hugging a pillow, and when his eyes focused, he saw Draco on the edge of the bed, sipping some tea. Teddy pushed the blankets off of him as he sat up. After a good stretch and a yawn, he said, "Good morning."

Draco nodded. "Want some tea?" He talked like a man who hadn't suffered from a nightmare just several hours before.

Teddy gladly accepted the cup of tea. He drank some, revelling in the warmth and the sweetness. He looked over at Draco, who appeared normal except for having a severe case of bed hair. There was an awkward tension between them, and Teddy wanted to ask if Draco was all right, but he held his tongue, waiting for his host to say something first.

And Draco did break the silence. "Thank you for last night. I didn't mean to trouble you in that manner."

"It's not a problem. Mung Chung's the one who threw me out of bed. Literally."

"I figured. With the silencing charm, you wouldn't have known what was going on with me."

Teddy took another long swallow before he continued. "Are your nightmares always this bad?"

"No." Draco shook his head to emphasise his answer. "It's never this bad."

"Do you mind telling me what it was about?"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"I'm aware of that. However, don't forget that your life is in danger here, and who knows if someone's using Legilimency on you."

Draco snapped at Teddy, "That's impossible. I am too skilled at Occlumency to be affected by something that trivial!"

"I'm aware of that," said Teddy, trying to placate Draco. "However . . . "

"It's just a simple nightmare that went out of control. Trust me! I know when someone's trying to use Legilimency on me, and that was not Legilimency!"

"But--"

"Beside, it was just an old nightmare. I've had it before. It was when I had failed my task as a Death Eater. Riddle was extremely upset with me and was casting the Cruciatus on me."

Teddy heard the unsaid words. "Did he? Or he didn't and you imagined it to be you?"

Draco snarled, "Oh, shut up! Don't try to psychoanalyse me!"

"I'm serious. Did he really punish you for that incident?" Teddy asked calmly.

"I," Draco sighed, his shoulder sagging in defeat. "He didn't, but I . . . "

"You were terrified he would one day, and that fear hadn't left you despite the war being over."

Draco just nodded, suddenly looking more like a soldier tired from the war. "Yes."

Without a thought, Teddy put an arm around Draco and pulled the man closer to him. "It wasn't your fault."

"I know. But it could have been my fault if I had succeeded in that mission." Teddy felt Draco's head resting on his shoulder. His hold on Draco tightened as he couldn't believe that this was the second time he had his arms around the older man. However, he reminded himself that Draco was vulnerable right now, and he had better not take advantage of that. The voice that told him that sounded suspiciously like his grandmother, so he mentally shook his head to rid himself of it.

The two of them sat like that for a while. Then they went to get some breakfast and had a quiet Sunday. The sombre atmosphere hovered over them for the rest of the day. Teddy didn't bring up the topic of the nightmare again, and Draco didn't mention anything about the way Teddy had held him twice to comfort him.

* * *

Despite Draco's insistence that his nightmares were just nightmares, nothing more or less, they attacked him almost every night. The first couple of nights, Mung Chung, again in his predictable ways, tossed Teddy out of the bed. Sore and bruised from his landing on the hard floor, Teddy would make his way to Draco's room and wake up the screaming man. For the rest of the night, Teddy held Draco, and two drifted off to sleep that way.

After that pattern continued, Teddy suggested over breakfast, "How about we try to sleep that way from the beginning?" Realising that the sentence sounded perverted, he hastily said, "With me sleeping on one side of the bed and you on the other."

Unsurprisingly, Draco simply said, "No."

Teddy backfired with, "Let's just try it as a simple experiment."

"Really now? I think you're overreacting over a simple nightmare."

Scowling, Teddy bit off a piece of his scone. He chewed and swallowed the delicious pastry Shinny had baked. "You know this is not just a _simple_ bloody nightmare. This has almost been a daily occurrence, and whether you want to admit it or not, it's taking a toll on you!"

Draco glared back at Teddy's scowling face. "I will not be in an _experiment_ with you! Especially something so half-baked that it's the most preposterous thing ever."

For the first time since he'd been living with Draco, after all the time he'd been insulted by him, Teddy grew furious with the man for being so stubborn. He scooted back in his seat. "Fine! See if I care if you keel over in exhaustion or something!"

He stomped back to his room, sat down hard on his own bed, and fumed to himself. Angrily, he punched his pillow. _What an infuriating and stubborn man! I know the idea's an uncomfortable one, but since his nightmares go away when I am there, it's logical to think it might work if we slept together from the beginning!_

Teddy punched his pillow several more times before he decided to get ready to go to Yonsei University. The rest of the day passed, and the atmosphere between the two men was icy and stormy. Even Draco's students must have noticed the tension between the two men since none of them participated in the classroom discussion.

Dinner went by with both men giving each other the silent treatment. When it was time for bed, they went to their respective beds. Teddy lay there, staring at the ceiling, too angry to fall asleep immediately as he usually did. He counted hippogriffs, crups, centaurs, and other magical creatures before he finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep. Later, unsurprisingly, he woke up by landing on the floor face first. Wordlessly, he arrived in Draco's room and shook him to wake him from whatever imaginary hell that encompassed his brain.

Draco sat up, gasping, and he looked at Teddy with a layer of sweat covering his face. "Teddy?"

"Yes, it's me."

Draco scooted over, and Teddy automatically crawled into the bed. With the blankets covering both of them, the two slept with no contact with each other. Nevertheless, the next morning came, and Teddy stirred awake and saw that he had embraced Draco sometime during the night, with Draco embracing him back.

Quietly, Teddy watched the sleeping man. He studied Draco's face, a face that wasn't frowning or smirking back at him. He looked at the thin lips that liked to spout insults and witty sarcasm. His gaze travelled upward to where he could see the almost invisible eyebrows and eyelashes. _When his face is not wrinkled up in his usual tense manner, he actually is a very handsome man. I think I'd rather see him in his usual disgruntled expression. Suits his personality to the core. However, his sleeping face is not bad either. I wonder how he'll look when he's in the throes of passion._

Grasping his last thought, he quickly chucked that image out of his head. Or at least he tried. He found himself, to his horror, feeling the familiar stirrings in his groin, and he again tried to think of the most revolting images to quell his arousal. He exhaled deeply when he felt that he was safe from his libido. That was when Draco woke up.

"Good morning. I didn't mean to wake you."

Draco yawned before answering. "It's time to start the day. No need to apologise."

Teddy sighed. "Listen, about that idea . . . "

"Let's try that tonight."

Not expecting an easy acceptance, he stared owlishly at Draco. "What?"

Draco frowned at him. "What? It was your idea. I'm only agreeing to it because quite frankly, I want to see if it works as well. These nightmares are quite annoying, if you ask me."

"Fine, then. Tonight." Teddy let go of his hold on Draco and went back to his room to shower and to wank off to his overactive imagination.

That night, Teddy and Draco slept next to each other. Each night, they would be on their own side of the large bed. In the morning, they woke up in each other arms. The two of them never mentioned it as the pattern repeated day to day. However, the nightmares did lessen in their attacks. Instead of crowing like a crazed winner, he only smiled while Draco slept peacefully.

* * *

One Thursday night, after the two came back from the seminar and had dinner, Draco announced, "Would you have any problems with us returning to England, tomorrow after classes end, to spend the weekend there?"

The two were in the sitting room, on the same couch within close proximity of each other. Teddy read a book while Draco studied his notes to continue his search for the Jiyu. Teddy set his book on the table and shifted to look at Draco.

"No, I don't. Are you planning something?"

"More or less. It's Scorpius' birthday on Saturday. I had planned a small gathering for him to celebrate. We'll come back Sunday night."

"Works for me. I could Apparate back to Grandmother's place, and then I'll catch up with her in the morning, and I'll go see Harry in the afternoon."

"You're more than welcome to come to the party."

"Sure. I wouldn't mind wishing Scorpius a 'happy birthday'."

Draco nodded. "Then that's settled." With that, Draco went back to his notes, and Teddy picked up his book and continued his readings.

Later, Teddy packed up all the souvenirs for his family and friends back home. After he shrank them and put them away neatly, he readied for bed and slept in Draco's room.

Classes passed as normal, almost. For once Draco, who liked to assign a decent amount of homework over the weekend, declared to each of his classes that there wasn't any. His students didn't cheer out loud because they respected Draco as their professor, but Teddy did see bright grins and happiness in their eyes.

Both Teddy and Draco had brought the possessions they were going to take back with them to England, so once they locked up the classroom, they went to a secluded place on campus to use the Portkey that would take them directly to Malfoy Manor. Once there, Teddy promised that he'd come to the party. However, he had to ask Draco one thing.

"You will let me know if you have any nightmares, right?"

"Yes. And if I don't, we can come to the conclusion that they are some how associated with me being in South Korea."

"Right." Teddy nodded. "Then, good night. See you tomorrow."

"Good night."

Teddy Apparated to his grandmother's place, where she was waiting there with tea and biscuits. After he hugged and kissed his grandmother, he sat down on the couch. The same couch he had jumped up and down on as a child. He took a sip of Andromeda's warm cuppa.

"Thanks, Gram. I missed your cuppas."

"Not a problem, dear Teddy." She sat elegantly on the couch, her hand fingering the bracelet her deceased husband had given her many years prior.

Even though Teddy studied his grandmother's appearance and profile for just the briefest of seconds, he couldn't help but smile at the realisation that struck him. He could see Draco's pureblood haughtiness in her. Not that she acted hostile towards anyone, but rather Teddy realised just how similar the two of them were. His grandmother had been raised by a pureblood family much like Draco had been, so the two of them shared the same wit and acerbic sense of humour. Also, even though she'd been disowned by the Black family, over the years her upbringing never really left her. She always looked stylish and graceful. Like right now, the way she sat, her back straight and poised, reminded him of Draco.

"What's so amusing?"

His grandmother's voice cut through his thoughts. "Nothing, Gram."

Andromeda looked over him before she smiled softly. "You're in love."

At that moment, Teddy had been drinking his tea, and he nearly spat out his tea in surprise. Recovering his dignity, he said, "Uh, what's that supposed to mean, Gram?"

She gave him an insulted look. "Nothing. It's just that the last time I saw such a love-struck face like that was on your mother."

"Really?"

"Yes, and you have that same look she did. And I know the one you are thinking dearest of is not Victoire. You've been with her for years, and I have never once seen that look on your face until now."

"Oh . . . " Teddy trailed off, suddenly feeling queasy in his stomach as he wondered how his grandmother would take the news that he was in love with her nephew.

"It's Draco, isn't it?"

Teddy, unable to look at his grandmother, just nodded and held his breath for the expected screams of bloody murder.

However, when his grandmother didn't say anything, Teddy took the risk and looked up at her. Instead of seeing anger, disgust, or anything of an antagonistic nature, he saw understanding, love, and acceptance on her face. He also smelled those emotions from her. "Gram?"

"We don't always choose who we love. We find love in the most unexpected place. Your mother found it in your father. I found mine with your grandfather, despite my family's view on Muggles. Therefore, who am I to judge who you love, Teddy?" She smirked at him. "Surely your expectation of me wasn't that low, was it? You know I'd accept you for who you are whether you are like the colour green or gay."

"Gram . . . "

Again, she gave him an affronted look. "I love you, Teddy Remus Lupin. You're my one and only grandson, whom I have raised as a son, so do not ever think again that I will spurn you for who you love and for who you are. If anything, I will spurn you for thinking so lowly of me!"

Teddy, feeling guilty, reached over and hugged Andromeda with all the love he felt for her. "Thanks, Gram."

They separated, and Andromeda picked up her cup of tea. "You're welcome. Now finish up your tea. We'll have breakfast tomorrow."

* * *

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast with Andromeda, he went and unpacked his lot of souvenirs.

He gave Andromeda her gift -- a gorgeous celadon vase -- which she loved, telling him that the green colour of the celadon was really beautiful. He spent the morning telling her about his adventures in Korea and how he liked it. They also talked briefly about his love for Draco, and Andromeda just said to take his time with this new opening instead of rushing head first into it. Teddy decided not to mention the nightmare problems and how they'd been sleeping together.

After that, he sent his friends and family's gifts by the owl post. He decided to take the rest of the gifts with him when he went to Harry's place. His plan was to go visit Harry, catch up on stuff, and then after the party at Draco's place, come back to Harry's and spend the night there before he met up with Draco on Sunday night.

When Teddy Flooed into 12, Grimmauld Place, he saw Harry with Neville. However, he was surprised to see Ginny along with James, Albus Severus, and Lily. They all greeted him warmly; apparently, they already knew that he was going to be in the country, thanks to Draco and Andromeda telling them in advance.

After Teddy hugged them, shook hands, and did all the greetings, every one of them sat around the table, with tea of course, and talked for the next hour. Teddy gave everyone their respective gifts, for which they all thanked him delightfully, each of them liking their gifts.

After the gifts, they all talked for another hour before the group began to disperse, each going their own ways.

Soon, Teddy and Harry were the only ones left. Harry suggested that they go to the sitting room, where they could talk more comfortably. They sat, and Harry's face took on a serious expression.

"I have news regarding Kim."

Teddy, almost forgetting his request to Harry, looked up sharply in surprise. He nodded towards Harry to continue.

"I dug around through the old Ministry files and found that one minor Death Eater, one who was alive, was present during Kim's torture session, the final one before the man was killed. The former Death Eater, who had hidden himself out in the most northern part of the Isle, was found and brought here for questionings. We offered to let him go back to his exile if he would tell us what he knew about Kim."

"He agreed to those conditions, didn't he?"

"Yes. He allowed us to extract his memories of the torture into a Pensieve." Harry turned slightly green when he said that.

"Must've been some ugly sights."

"Terribly so. To spare any details, Kim was tortured about the location of something to which he responded with an 'I don't know' over and over again. Soon, though he started to shout and scream in Korean, which our translators said were just Korean curses and gibberish."

"But?"

"But then in Japanese, he had whispered the word 'wife', and then he said a name. Kang Soon Jung, we assume that's his wife's name."

Teddy sat up, astonished by the news. "But all the records say that he was single and that he had no family!"

"Perhaps, but I'm just telling you what I found out."

"Did he say anything else?"

"That was the last thing he said before he died."

Teddy's mind worked overtime as he tried to piece the new information together from what he knew of the situation, which really wasn't much. _So based on this, that means whoever is after Draco is from the man's family, maybe the wife or something. But how would the wife know that about Draco? Or know of her husband's death and who caused it?_

"Thanks, Harry. This revelation gives me more questions than answers, but it will be something to work with. At least now I know that someone has a rather legitimate reason to go after Draco."

"That's the most likely of possibilities." Harry paused before he went on. "Just what is Malfoy's reason to be in South Korea? Is he looking for whatever Riddle was asking for from Kim?"

"Something like that."

"You can't really say?"

Teddy nodded.

"I won't push you. Just let me know if you need back up for help."

Teddy reached over and hugged Harry gratefully. "Thank you, Harry."

Harry's arm embraced him and tightened slightly. "Just be careful. Wouldn't want to explain to Andromeda why her grandson's dead in a foreign country."

Teddy laughed as they let go of each other.

"So what's new with you, Teddy?"

He hesitated to tell Harry about what he and Andromeda discussed earlier about his love. But then he decided to tell Harry. After all, at least Harry would not flip out on him for being gay. "I think I found the . . . person."

"What person?"

"ThepersonIlove," Teddy said quickly, blushing at the same time.

"What? Speak clearly!"

Teddy shifted uncomfortably and whispered. "The person I love."

"Oh? Is that all? Your nose finally found the one it liked?"

"You make my nose sound like it is its own entity." Teddy teasingly scowled.

"It is."

"Hn." Teddy looked off to the side, wondering how he was going to tell Harry that it was Draco that his nose fell for, more or less.

"It's Malfoy." It wasn't a question, and Harry's face remained stoic and unreadable when he said this.

Teddy gawked at his godfather. "Blimey! What's up with you and Gram? Are you two suddenly delving into Divination? Or am I that obvious?"

"Considering how your grandmother and I both agree that Divination is a rather bollocks-filled subject, I would think it's the second reason. Although coming to that conclusion is really an easy one since who else could you have spent that much time with in the last month and a half?"

"Point proven."

"Well, you aren't with him officially, right?" Teddy shook his head. "If you two do get together, you have my approval."

Teddy wondered just how many times this weekend he was going to look like a gaping fish. "Harry . . . "

"I just want you to be happy. You're really a great guy, and you deserve your share of happiness."

All words escaped Teddy as he just hugged Harry again and let go after a second.

"Now, you will come to the Burrow for Christmas Eve supper? Bring Malfoy if you can."

"Harry, Christmas isn't for another month."

"Doesn't hurt to plan ahead."

Teddy rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'll come and drag Draco along if he's willing."

Harry grinned; his green eyes sparkled with pleasure. "Great. Now let's talk about the latest Quidditch results."

* * *

Teddy soon readied himself for the party. He changed into his semi-formal dress robes, changed his hair colour into light brown, without the blue and green streaks, and ensured that nothing was out of order as he looked himself over in the mirror. His smile lit up his face. He grabbed Scorpius' gift and Apparated to the front of Malfoy Manor. Walking up the path to the entrance, he went through the door that opened automatically, and he was greeted by a loud blast of music.

As his eardrums recovered from the sudden increase in the decibel level, he walked around and found Scorpius with Albus Severus in the crowd. He knew Scorpius through Albus Severus. Over the years, he and Scorpius had talked and become friends with each other as the latter came to visit 12, Grimmauld Place quite often during the school holidays. He felt a bit weird that he was technically in love with Scorpius' father, but he decided to shove that thought aside.

"Scorpius," said Teddy, handing him the gift. "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks, Teddy! Glad you could come!" Scorpius accepted the gift, two tickets for a three-day trip to a ski resort in South Korea for when he and Albus Severus came to visit Draco that winter.

"Brilliant! I can't wait until we get there! Al and I would love to go have fun at a ski resort!"

"I'm glad you like it."

"Go and get yourself some food and a drink! Dance and talk! Mingle around!"

Teddy laughed and did that for a while, but soon he decided to get away from the crowd of youngsters. Even though he really wasn't that much older than the guests here, he felt too old for them as he decided to go someplace a bit quieter in the Manor. He found solace in the sitting room where he sat down on a chair and stretched out his muscles. Hearing someone coming up behind him, he looked and saw it was Draco.

Smiling at him, Teddy said, "This is a great 'small gathering' you put together for Scorpius."

"Of course. He's a Malfoy. Malfoys always get the best stuff."

Teddy laughed at the haughtiness in Draco's voice. "You and Gram both sound the same when you two are being sarcastic."

"It's the pureblood in us." Draco sat down in the chair across from Teddy. "Why aren't you out partying more? I thought you would enjoy this kind of event."

"Sure! When I am around people my age!"

Draco chuckled. "I see you what you mean. Even though you're not that much older, the age gap still exists." He snapped his fingers, and a house elf popped out of nowhere and gave them two glasses of brandy before it disappeared.

"Thanks." He held his glass out and clinked it against Draco's. "Cheers."

"Cheers."

The two of them drank in companionable silence. Suddenly, Teddy remembered something very important.

"Did you have any nightmares last night?" Teddy studied Draco's pale face, noticing that he looked a bit on the tired side.

Draco didn't answer.

"You did, didn't you?"

"Yes," Draco sighed. "I did."

"I have news for you, by the way, about Kim."

"Oh?"

Teddy told Draco everything that Harry had told him earlier. Draco listened closely and he looked at his glass of brandy with a thoughtful expression on his face.

A few minutes passed before Draco said, "It makes sense, actually. As a former Death Eater myself, I can see why I'd be a target if the wife existed."

"But you're not the one who killed that man!"

"It doesn't matter. I still served the man who killed the poor woman's husband. I took on Kim's goals of trying to find the Jiyu. If the wife still lives and knows about all this, then it makes sense for her to try to get revenge. I'm not going to waste my time on trying to find Ms. Kang. For all I know, she most likely changed her name because she doesn't want to be found."

"But what if she really was the one behind the attacks, and maybe even these nightmares!"

"We have no proof that these nightmares are caused by a third party."

Teddy sighed. "So you're not interested in trying to find the person who probably wants you dead?"

"I didn't say that."

"Sounds like it."

"Look, so far nothing has happened since you came. Let's just end it at the fact that you must be doing your job right, and because of that, nothing out of the ordinary has happened."

"But the nightmares --"

"Stop going on about the nightmares. You're sounding like a broken wireless!"

"I'm just worried."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake! If you're that worried, then spend the night here. At least that keeps those annoyances at bay, along with you."

Teddy couldn't help but feel excited at Draco's proposal, never mind that he'd been insulted. As casually as he could, he said, "Fine."

* * *

The party eventually wound down, and Albus Severus and Scorpius decided to go to London to continue the party at a popular club. They wished Draco and Teddy good night and promised to come back home in the morning. Scorpius promised to have breakfast with his father, and the two left.

Teddy and Draco both retired to bed in the master bedroom. They fell asleep with their arms around each other, and Teddy couldn't help but relish in the situation. Even though it was only a day, Teddy had missed the comforting arms around him. He tucked Draco's head under his chin and snoozed away in the dark night.

As predicted, Draco didn't have any nightmares, and they woke up and got ready for the new day. When the two of them walked down to the dining room, they saw Scorpius, looking perky for someone who had partied all night, drinking coffee, and reading the paper.

"Must have had a fun night," Teddy said to Scorpius.

"Indeed, I did!"

"Ah, to be young again," Teddy laughed as he mussed up Scorpius' hair. He then turned to Draco. "I'm going to Harry's place. I'll come back this evening."

"All right," Draco said, sitting down across from his son. "Five o'clock."

"Okay. Later, Scorpius!" Teddy waved to the boy, knowing that Scorpius would be asleep after breakfast. Teddy walked outside to the ward-free zone and Apparated to 12, Grimmauld Place where Harry and Neville were having breakfast together. Teddy joined them, digging hungrily into his food.

"How was the party?" Harry asked.

"Oh, it was fine. Loud, really."

Neville laughed. "I'm sure. These youngsters like to have their music loud. Reminds me of those balls at Hogwarts."

"Is Albus Severus sleeping?"

Harry nodded. "Yep. He walked in, grunted to us about sleeping all day."

"Scorpius held out better than him. He's at least having breakfast with his father."

"Maybe I should have Scorpius teach Albus Severus to do that as well."

All three of them laughed as they continued their breakfast. Afterwards, Harry and Neville cleaned up while Teddy decided to go pack his stuff, so he could head to over to visit Gram one more time before he returned to South Korea. However, while packing, there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was Harry, he opened the door and froze when he saw Victoire standing right there in the doorway.

Victoire gave him a nervous smile. "May I come in?"

Teddy stepped aside, and Victoire went past him and sat on the bed. She fingered the edge of the blanket. Teddy sat down next to her and the two sat in silence for a while.

It was Victoire who broke the silence. "How have you been doing?"

"Not bad, honestly. You?"

"All right, I suppose." Teddy felt Victoire moving on the bed, and he looked over at her. "I wanted to apologise for the way I acted the last time we met."

"Victoire --"

"Please." She held up a hand. "I'm glad you suggested we spend some time apart, because after we were separated, I had a lot of time to think about our relationship. I thought back to all the times we were together, and I realised that even though we were together, we weren't _really_ together. At the beginning, there was some passion between us, but it fizzled out over the years. Soon, it felt like we were more best friends than a couple.

"And that is one thing I do not want to give up. I do not want to give up our friendship. You will always be one of my closest friends."

"I don't want to give that up, either. I am only sorry that I can't . . . "

"Love me?"

Teddy nodded, his voice working against him.

"It's okay. I realise that some things are not meant to be. You don't need to apologise. If anything, I should apologise for being a drama queen about it."

Teddy smiled at her and gave her a big hug. "Thank you."

Victoire hugged him back, and the two just sat there like that for a long time before they separated and caught up on stuff. Teddy gave her his gift -- a Korean tea set. He watched the way her eyes lit up at the pretty set. She gave him another hug and thanked him profusely.

For the next hour or so, they talked about their current lives. She mentioned that she was seeing Anthony Chang. Teddy told her about him being gay and of his love towards Draco.

"Really? Well, if you can get through him, then you deserve him since he's a bit of a pain from what I understand."

Throwing his head back, Teddy laughed and Victoire laughed with him.

After his pleasant meeting with Victoire, Teddy said his farewells to her, Harry, and Neville. Then he went back to Andromeda's place and they ate lunch together. It was there Andromeda gave him a huge container of mince pies. "Enjoy them with Draco."

"Thanks, Gram! I will. You know your mince pies are the best!"

Teddy kept her company all afternoon. When it was time for him to go to Malfoy Manor, she hugged and kissed him.

"Good luck. Those who are descendants of the Black family will be stubborn, but if anyone can win him over, you can."

"Gram!"

"I'm just speaking the truth, dear Teddy, that's all. Now do take care and keep in touch. I will see you at Christmas Eve, yes?"

"Yes, Gram. Thanks for everything." Teddy kissed his grandmother on the cheek, and then he left with his stuff.

At Malfoy Manor, Draco and Teddy said their goodbyes to Scorpius. The two of them touched the Portkey, Teddy's hand covering Draco's, and they arrived back at Draco's place in South Korea.

Shinny welcomed them back and so did Mung Chung, who proceeded to steal several of the mince pies before doing his disappearing act.

"That no good bi-bi! At least let Master have some first!" Shinny grumbled out loud as she gathered their things and put them away. "I'll have dinner ready for Masters soon.

Teddy looked around the familiar place and grinned. "Good to be back."

"Growing fond of this place?"

_Only because you're here_, he thought. "Yes."

"So am I. It seems cosier than the Manor in some ways."

"Even though it's huge for one person?"

"It's still smaller than the Manor."

"True."

"Let's unpack and have some dinner."

"All right."

After a delicious meal with mince pies, which Draco complimented, Draco and Teddy settled for a game of chess. While they tried to outwit each other in the game, they talked about the upcoming week and what they should plan. The evening passed in a peaceful manner, and Teddy couldn't help but feel really happy.

He was even happier when they crawled into Draco's bed, snuggled into each other under the blanket, and slept together. Teddy nuzzled his nose in Draco's hair, and he inhaled the familiar scent that made him feel complete with himself. Sighing in contentment, he mumbled, "Good night."

Draco responded just as softly. "Good night."

* * *

"Max invited us to go to a no rae bang tomorrow night."

"A what?" Teddy gave Draco a perplexed look.

"No rae bang. It's like karaoke, only you sing in small, private rooms instead of out in front of everyone at a bar."

"Er, why?" Teddy didn't really sing well, and he certainly wasn't going to improve by the following night.

"It's a cultural thing. Koreans like to go singing there, especially after they have a few drinks."

"Well, I wouldn't mind experiencing it."

"I'll tell him we'll come."

The next night, Teddy and Draco met up with Max and Jin Sil for some dinner first. They all opted to go to an Italian place called Sortino's in Itaewon. Surrounded by the scent of tomatoes, basil, garlic, and other herbs and spices, they ordered two different pizzas and two pasta dishes to share with each other. They also shared an expensive bottle of wine that Draco decided to throw in.

It was when they were nearly finished eating that Jin Sil brought out the handkerchief. "Here, I wanted to return this to you."

Teddy looked at it in surprise. He had forgotten about that piece of cloth. Apparently so had Draco, because his eyebrows went up as he accepted it. "Oh, you didn't need to give it back."

Jin Sil smiled. "I wanted to."

Draco just nodded. "Okay."

Soon they forgot about the handkerchief. When they went to a no rae bang, they all told Teddy to sing first, but Teddy insisted that they go first so he could see how it really worked.

Max volunteered to go first and he chose to sing The Village People's "Macho Man". It took every ounce of strength for Teddy to not turn Max's microphone off. Teddy had never heard such a horrible rendition of that song in his life. Luckily, Jin Sil sang better as she chose to sing a song by some group called "Dong Bang Shin Gi". She sang a pretty ballad-type song called "Love in the Ice". She had a pretty nice voice and could carry a tune way better than Max. Draco surprised Teddy the most by choosing to sing Deep Purple's "Highway Star". Teddy didn't think Draco knew that type of song!

Finally, it was Teddy's turn, and after he flipped through the book, he decided to sing Queen's "I Was Born to Love You". He sang off-key, and his timing wasn't in tune with the song, but he tried! When he finished, they all clapped for him, Max and Jin Sil cheering. Teddy blushed, but he started to get into the groove of things. He discovered that a lot of people who sang here weren't good, so it didn't matter if he sang horribly himself. In fact, he came to the conclusion that Max sang worse than him, but Max didn't care. He just continued to make noises on that microphone and so did Teddy.

The entire evening turned into a fun one, and when Teddy and Draco were in bed that night, that was when he realised something very crucial.

* * *

"I want to try something tonight," was the first thing Teddy said when they woke up.

Draco yawned and gave Teddy a sleepy look. "Try what?"

"Let's sleep separately."

Teddy, whose arms were still around him, felt Draco stiffen. In a cold voice, he said, "Fine."

"No, let me explain. Those nightmares? Remember when it started to frequently attack you? Think about what happened before the nightmares started."

"I am not following you."

"There's a connection between what happened last night and what happened before the nightmares started."

Teddy watched Draco's face. He watched as comprehension dawned on Draco. "The handkerchief."

"Yes," Teddy said, "the handkerchief."

"Jin Sil is somehow a part of it. Maybe even Max. Somehow the handkerchief, because it was originally mine, was used against me. I'm positive the ancient arts of Shamanism were used to connect myself with it, and that's how the nightmares were caused. Because its roots are Shamanistic in nature, that's why it didn't feel like someone was using Legilimency on me."

"Well, that makes a lot of sense, but when I sniffed her out upon our first meeting, she didn't feel like a threat. She still doesn't, come to think of it."

"Really?" Draco looked at Teddy thoughtfully. "Perhaps she has something that tampers your sense of smell when you're around her."

"That's a possibility," Teddy said slowly, the idea digesting into him. "Kind of like in that Muggle World War Two, how scientists on the Allied side came up with a chemical that altered and affected the dog's sense of smell temporarily. Which proved to be useful when the Resistance groups would help smuggle and hide those who were being persecuted by the enemies."

Draco threw his head back and rolled his eyes. "That necklace! Of course!"

"The one with a pouch?"

"Yes! She must have something in there to interfere with your sense of smell!"

Teddy snorted. "That would explain her strange choice in jewellery"

The two stayed silence as they thought about these new bits of information.

"Should we confront her about it?" Teddy asked while he absent-mindedly stroked Draco's hair.

"We have no irrefutable proof to do that with."

"True."

"Let's just try out your theory tonight and see what happens."

They did that. For the first time in weeks, they slept in their own respective beds. Teddy felt empty as he climbed into his neglected bed. With the blankets over him, his head on the soft pillows, he couldn't sleep. He stared up at the ceiling, waiting for the anticipated crash landing on the floor from Mung Chung. The night crawled away, though, with no signs of the dokkaebi. Finally, Teddy fell asleep and woke up tired the next morning. Upon waking up, he rushed to Draco's room. He entered and saw Draco already sitting on the bed.

"Sleep well?"

"I didn't have any nightmares."

Teddy noticed that Draco avoided his question. "But did you sleep well?"

"No," Draco scowled. "I didn't."

Teddy couldn't help but smile a bit at that. "Why?"

Draco gave Teddy a tight-lipped look before he sullenly said, "You weren't there."

Teddy's smile widen at that answer. "Me, too." He walked over and knelt in front of Draco. With courage he didn't know existed in him, he reached up and slowly and hesitantly cupped Draco's face in his hands, feeling the scratchy stubble on his cheeks.

He heard Draco's intake of breath, but he didn't move. He stayed like that, and so did Draco. In a strangled voice, so uncharacteristic of him, Draco said, "This is probably not a good idea."

"I know." Teddy sighed, still looking straight into Draco's face. He saw the grey eyes darken, and he could smell something different from Draco. Something that smelled like a combination of nervousness and something feral, lusty, and needy.

"But it feels right. So right," Draco whispered.

Teddy nodded as he slowly leaned upwards, his face inching closer to Draco's. He stopped when there were only a few centimetres separating them. He could feel the invisible energy crackling between them. Throwing caution to the wind, he moved to close the gap between them.

But then a loud noise banged outside the door. Teddy let go of Draco and fell back hard on his bum. Draco remained sitting on the bed, looking dazed, but then he came to his senses and yelled, "Mung Chung! You better not break anything out there!"

Teddy stood up, rubbing his sore bottom. "Ouch! Darn that dokkaebi!"

Draco just smirked at Teddy. "We'll be late. Let's get ready."

The rest of the day passed as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened between them. No words were exchanged that night as they went back to their previous sleeping arrangements where Draco ended up in Teddy's arms. The next few days passed without any mention of the kiss that almost took place.

They also pretended that nothing had been discovered about Jin Sil and Max. Or at least just with Jin Sil. Both of them decided to not give off any clues that would warn Jin Sil about them suspecting her. Luckily, nothing strange happened as November came to a chilly end.

* * *

_December 2024_

"Bloody hell!"

Teddy had just walked inside the sitting room to see Draco violently tossing a pen on the table as he slumped against the couch. He watched Draco take off his glasses. "You all right?"

"Yes -- no, not really. This riddle is driving me mad!" Draco gestured towards the yellowed paper in its original ancient writings and the other paper that had the translation in modern Korean and English. Then there was the notebook, a rather fat notebook filled with notes Draco took on the riddle.

Teddy came and sat down on the couch. He reached for the translated version and read the familiar and mystifying riddle:

_In between two warring states of power,  
Divided by a common legacy,  
On a rocky spire, deep within a cave,  
There lies the remnant of the Ancient Past. _

_From the clear waters in its hidden depths  
To the origins of the mighty world,  
The souls of the magic come into place,  
The round pedestal unites and divides._

"Tell me what you have come up with so far," Teddy requested.

"I've been thinking that the location is somewhere in the middle of the Korean peninsula. The 'two warring states of power' could be between North and South Korea. I know the Jiyu's in a cave somewhere. The first line of the second quatrain makes me believe that the Han River, which flows in both North and South Korea, has something to do it."

Teddy nodded, agreeing with what Draco said. "What about the last two lines? What does magic have to do with anything?"

"Remember, the Heavenly People had supernatural powers, which can also be interpreted as 'magic'. And the round pedestal is what the vial is laid upon."

Teddy, who had been learning how to read and write Korean slowly, looked at the modern Korean version. He frowned as he read the Korean word for "magic" and remembered something. "Isn't there another word for 'magic' in Korean?"

"There is more than one word for it."

"So 'mabup' is another word for it? As well as 'masul'?"

Draco nodded impatiently. "Yes, you are aware that synonyms are applicable to languages other than English . . . "

"Draco?" Teddy cocked his head at the way Draco had trailed off. He watched Draco's frown deepened. "Did you just think of something?"

"Merlin's sake, Teddy! You're a genius!" At that moment, Draco got up and ran out the room and quickly returned with a map of Korea. He slammed the map down on the table, bowing his head as he looked for whatever he was searching for.

"Er, Dra--?"

"Shut up and give me a minute!"

Teddy did as he was ordered. Considering this was the most animated he had seen Draco as of yet, he certainly didn't want to interrupt the man's dedicated work ethics.

Thankfully, the wait wasn't long. Soon, Teddy looked at the map and looked at where Draco had circled a small island called Masul in red ink. He gave Draco a questioning look. "I assume that's the location of the Jiyu?"

"Yes!" He turned to look at Teddy with a smile. "This calls for a celebration! And it's all thanks to you!" Quick as a lightning, Draco leaned over and planted a kiss on Teddy's mouth. Teddy, despite being surprised by the sudden action, swiftly kissed Draco back as his Auror's reflexes came alive. The kiss was hot and filled with passion. Teddy's tongue reached out and swiped Draco's lips, and when Teddy felt Draco's mouth opened in silent permission, he took the plunge and explored the new, sweet territory with gusto.

It wasn't long before the two broke apart, gasping to get much-needed oxygen into their systems. Teddy looked at Draco's flushed appearance, the man's usual pale cheeks were stained pink, and those thin lips thoroughly kiss-swollen. Without a mirror, Teddy knew that he probably reflected Draco's exterior image.

When Teddy felt like he could speak again, he swallowed hard and said, "That was -- just, wow. I'm not complaining, but let's hold off the celebration until we find that thing."

"Right." Draco pointed at the map, looking as if he hadn't just snogged Teddy just now. "Masul-do, that has to be it. It's a small island, which is the 'round pedestal'. The 'clear water' symbolises the ocean that surrounds it. It really is just a huge pile of rock, a 'rocky spire', and it's in between South Korea and Japan, the 'two warring states of power'. Korea and Japan are always at each other throats about something because of their long history with each other. A couple of decades ago, they even fought over the ownership of this particular island."

"Anybody --?"

"Don't you mean Dok-do?"

Teddy and Draco look up at the uninvited dokkaebi. Both of them echoed, "Dok-do?"

"Yes, Dok-do, hello! That's the island that's been fought over for centuries between Japan and Korea!"

Teddy and Draco exchanged a confused look before they stared at Mung Chung blankly. Mung Chung scowled at them and said, "Never mind! You guys are being babo!" He disappeared out of sight.

"He just insulted us by calling us 'stupid'. I think I will seriously think of getting a dokkaebi exorcist," Draco muttered.

Teddy just sniggered. "Forget about him. So does anybody live on this island?"

"No. It's a really tiny island, and all there is on that is a single cave."

"But then what if someone already went into the cave and grabbed the vial?"

"Oh, it's there. Don't worry." Draco pulled out a normal looking rock and handed it to Teddy. "This rock looks like an ordinary rock, but it's not. You see the inscriptions carved there? It matches those characters used in the ancient writings. Apparently you put this rock back in its spot, and it will unlock the inner cavern that leads to the vial."

"No kidding. This is some fancy stuff, even if it's all misleading."

"Let's go this weekend. I would say let's go now, but I think it'd be wise to make more plans."

"Agreed. Besides, we'll have more time to go on this mission then instead of going after your classes." Teddy looked over at Draco. He could see tension and excitement in Draco's body language. "Also, I was thinking we should call for backup."

Teddy received a glare. "No."

"But what if Jin Sil --"

"No backup. It will just be you and me. Or would you rather have me go by myself?" Draco smirked.

Teddy let out an exasperated groan. "Fine, no backup. You have my word."

* * *

It felt like the weekend would never come. Time not only crawled on its arse, but Teddy swore that time even stopped more than once. He could not believe he was looking forward to going to Masul-do on Saturday. It was ironic how he was jumpy and dying from impatience, whereas Draco looked calm and collected as usual except for the slight hint of tension in his jaw.

Fortunately, though, Saturday did come, and Teddy made sure that he had all his equipment, just in case. He felt uneasy about going there without backup, but since Draco had threatened to go by himself, that made him think twice. However, his gut instinct warned him to be prepared for anything that could happen there.

Soon it was time to go. Teddy and Draco decided to Apparate directly to the island.

"Ready?" Draco asked.

"Ready," Teddy confirmed. Simultaneously, they Apparated to Masul-do.

Teddy appeared on the beach, and he heard the waves breaking against the rocks with a deafening crash. He looked around his surroundings. The island really was a small one. A tall volcanic mountain was situated on the middle of the island. At its base, he could see a small opening. Pointing at it, he turned to Draco. "Is that it?"

"Very astute. Do see any other caves around here?" Despite the barb, it lacked his usual biting tone.

Teddy just grinned. "Well, let's go!"

They walked across the beach and climbed up a small slope before the path straightened out again. It didn't take long before they reached the entrance of the cave and entered it. Teddy was surprised to see that this particular cave wasn't dark. Through numerous cracks and openings, the sunlight entered the cave, brightening it. As they went further inside, the prehistoric paintings and carvings on the walls caught his eyes. Soon they reached a dead end.

Teddy looked at the vast wall in front of him. Unlike the other walls, this had nothing decorative on it; it was a plain grey wall. However, from the corner of his eyes, he saw Draco taking out the rock, and that was when the wall changed slightly. In the dead centre, the wall sunk inwards and made an indentation the size of the rock in Draco's hand. They looked at each other. Teddy nodded, and Draco put the rock into the slot.

At first nothing happened. Teddy stood still, waiting. Suddenly, a loud noise snapped through the cave. An intricate and elaborate design of pictograms appeared on the wall as it glowed briefly. Then without warning, the wall simply disappeared.

_Well that was pretty anti-climatic!_ Teddy kept the thought to himself as he followed Draco inside the inner grotto. Unlike the outer part, the new area was dark. Luckily, though, there were two torches already lit hanging at the entrance. Teddy and Draco each grabbed one. Wordlessly, they walked deeper and deeper inside.

After five minutes of walking, Teddy saw a glint of light. He heard Draco gasp out loud and watched as he rushed towards the glint. Teddy sped up and reached the round pedestal against another dead end. He saw a simple vial, shining brilliantly as if it had never known dirt.

Teddy looked at Draco, who had appeared to have frozen up on the spot. "Well, what are you waiting for! Get it, Draco! Grab that vial, that Jiyu you've been searching for!"

Draco nodded. He slowly reached out to touch the vial, and then he wrapped his hand around it. Carefully, he picked it up and put it in his bag. He looked up at Teddy with a genuine, happy smile, at which Teddy wished he had a camera to capture what must be one of the happiest moments for Draco. Teddy slung an around Draco and leaned in to whisper, "Now let's really _celebrate_!"

"Of course!" Draco and Teddy walked out of the inner area, and once they were out of it, the wall silently appeared back in its place. They looked for that rock, but it had merged into the main wall.

"There goes your pet rock," Teddy teased.

"A pet?!" Draco gave a mocking glare. "That was not my pet rock. It was simply a tool that I used for my objective."

Before Teddy could say anything, he heard footsteps in front of them. Letting go of Draco, he grabbed his wand and squinted to make out the person at the entrance.

Without warning, he felt some powerful force throwing him against the far wall, away from Draco. With the wind knocked out of him, he slid down to the ground, coughing. He looked up in time to see a bunch of long white cloth appear out of nowhere. The cloth tied itself around Draco, binding him down on the spot.

"Draco!" Teddy tried to stand up, but he found himself held down by some force beyond him. He could move, but he couldn't move from that spot. With his wand still in his hand, he tried to cast a spell to get rid of the white cloth, but he found that his magic wasn't working.

He finally looked up at the person he'd seen earlier. An old woman stood there, wearing a white hanbok. Her hair, which was equally white, was pulled back into a neat bun. She looked fairly harmless, almost reminding him of Draco's landlady. However, the crazed expression on her face looked dangerous.

"How does it feel? How does it feel to be powerless? To feel what my husband felt when your people attacked him!" She didn't move. Instead she stayed at the entrance, looking directly at Draco.

Teddy stood up and was going to shout at her, but it was Draco who said in a calm voice, "You must be Kim Jung Min's wife."

"Yes. And you're one of those monsters who tortured and killed my husband!"

Teddy interjected, "No! He wasn't even alive then!"

She turned to give him an evil glare, "Silence! It doesn't matter! He's still one of them, a Death Eater! Once one, always one!"

"You're a mudang," Draco said matter-of-factly. "You used what must be a powerful Shaman spell as a barrier against our magic."

Teddy frantically tried to remember what a mudang was until it came to him. A mudang was a type of Shaman who acted as a mediator between the gods and humans. Buddhist and Taoist in nature, these mudangs were the link between the spiritual world and the real world. They could see spirits, communicate with them.

Draco continued to converse with the woman as if nothing was wrong. "You must have changed your name after your husband's death. You had to cut off ties to him. He must have appeared in your dreams and asked you to do that."

Teddy had to give it to Draco. For a man who was quite sarcastic and crabby on a regular basis, Draco knew how to keep his cool. The woman, on the other hand, looked as if she had gone to a sauna and was burning up.

"Yes. My name back then was Kang Soon Jung," she said angrily. "And you're correct about my husband's spirit appearing in my dreams. He told me what had happened and told me to change my name and hide with our unborn daughter. So I changed my name to Oh Son Hae. Several years ago, my poor husband, whose spirit is unable to rest, came to tell me that you had gained possession of his notes on his search for the Jiyu. Then I found out that you had decided to move here, to search for it, and I could have not asked for a better situation!"

"So you tried to attack me, tried to kill me?" Draco asked coldly.

"Why, yes. Absolutely. It's a shame that the thugs I hired to have you run over failed in their mission. After all, you _deserve_ to die." There was such vehemence in her voice that Teddy cringed.

"I tried to make your little life miserable after you gained that bodyguard of yours! The nightmares! I wanted you to see and feel the same suffering my husband went through. Luckily, my granddaughter --"

"You mean Pak Jin Sil?" Teddy interrupted her this time. "We figured it all out. Especially when she gave it back to us."

"Yes," she sneered. "I knew that your bodyguard's a descendant from the wolves, so I made up that necklace for her, to interfere with his smell. That ungrateful wench! I raised her, you know? After my daughter died giving birth to her, and her father already dead, I took her in my care. Oh, how thrilled I was to hear that her boyfriend was none other than your real estate agent! It was then I asked her to get me something that belonged to _you_. She gave me the handkerchief, but I guess she felt guilty because she tried to talk me out of this, tried to tell me that her dear 'professor' wasn't a bad man! Why she even stole it from me!

"Unfortunately, I didn't anticipate the two of you falling for each other. I didn't predict that his love would override my spells and rituals! But no matter! I had another dream a few days ago in which my husband appeared and told me that you two had found the location of the Jiyu. He told me where, I set up my traps here, and you two fell for it!"

Teddy stiffened at the knife she revealed. He struggled to move, to get closer to Draco.

It was then that Draco yelled something to Teddy in French. _Distract her to weaken her concentration_. That's what Draco had said.

"No! Put the knife away! You don't want to do this!" His yelling must have distracted her a bit because when he struggled against the force that held him in the spot, he began to move. He felt like he was moving through the thickest molasses in the world, but he moved, centimetre by centimetre.

From where he stood, he could see Draco's pale face, whiter than usual, and he could smell fear, even if Draco still looked calm as a cucumber.

Teddy moved, a bit faster now, he could feel that whatever power Son Hae used, it was weakening. Encouraged, he moved with more energy, with more force. He had to get to Draco!

Despite his best efforts, though, he could see that he wasn't going to make it. Son Hae was getting closer to Draco.

"Now, after you get what you deserve, I shall take what my husband had been searching for most of his life until his undeserving death." She held out the knife. Soon, she was only about three metres away from Draco.

"Halmeoni! Stop!" Teddy turned his head around, surprised to see Jin Sil and Max running towards Son Hae. "Stop! Don't do this!"

_Distraction, such a beautiful thing_, Teddy thought. Because of Jin Sil's unexpected shout, Son Hae's hold on Teddy weakened to the point that he escaped from the invisible bonds and ran towards her. He saw the stunned look on her face, but she quickly recovered. With the speed of a demon, she ran towards Draco, the knife aimed at his heart.

"No!" Teddy reached out to grab the knife.

Right at that moment, the whole cavern lit. The brightness blinded him, and it made him stay in his spot as he waited for the lights to dim a bit. "Draco!" Teddy called out once he could see. He sighed in relief. There wasn't any blood. Draco, still tied up, was fine. Teddy was about to run towards him, but there was a ghost in front of Draco. A ghost who stood between Draco and Son Hae.

Teddy swallowed. He could feel Jin Sil and Max behind him. He heard Jin Sil's soft, "Grandfather?"

"Yuh-bo . . . " Son Hae said the word that Teddy recognised as the term married couples used to call each other. Teddy couldn't see her face, but he heard her voice shake, and he could smell the sadness and love that emanated from her.

The ghost of Kim Jung Min looked at his wife. "Stop. Don't turn yourself into a killer. When I told you about this man finding my notes, I didn't mean for you to plan revenge. I just wanted to let you know, so you could find him, talk to him, and get some credit as my wife if and when he found the Jiyu."

"But --"

"Please. This is not what I want you to do. I love you too much for you to take this path. And think of our granddaughter."

"Yuh-bo!" She pointed at Draco. "But he's associated with those people who killed you! Who tortured you!"

"Yet he didn't kill me. He wasn't even born then. Yes, he may have joined up with those evil doers, but he made a mistake, and I'm sure he had to repent for it more than once. We all do when we do something we regret. Do you want Jin Sil to be associated with a killer? That's what will happen if you do this. Also, this will not bring me back." The ghost of Jung Min had begun to fade when it began its speech. By the end, it had disappeared entirely.

"Yuh-bo!" She reached out to touch him. Her hand only met empty space, and her shoulders sagged in defeat. She let the knife fall from her hand. It landed with a soft sound. She waved her hands and muttered something. The white cloth that had been binding Draco disappeared. She then sank to the ground and began to weep loudly.

Teddy ran past her, straight to Draco. "You all right?"

Draco nodded and looked as if he was going to say something, but Teddy didn't let him. Instead, Teddy pulled him into a tight hug. He whispered, "I thought you were going to be a goner."

"So did I," Draco whispered back, his arms going around Teddy and hugging him back. "So did I."

Teddy and Draco separated when they heard Jin Sil walking towards Son Hae. They watched as she stopped and knelt in front of Son Hae. Wordlessly, she pulled her grandmother into a hug and comforted her. Son Hae's weeping grew into loud wails and sobs as she rocked in her granddaughter's arms.

While that went on, Teddy grabbed Draco's hand and led them towards the entrance where Max waited. The three of them walked back to the beach and waited there for the women.

"I'm sorry about all this," Max said sombrely, so unlike his usual self. "Jin Sil only told me what was going on this morning. If I'd known sooner, I'd have prevented this or warned you two or something."

"It's okay. It's not your fault. As for her actions, I don't blame her for it, quite honestly," Draco said.

Teddy, still holding onto Draco's hand, gave it a squeeze. "Still, she shouldn't have targeted you simply because you were affiliated with them years ago."

Draco gave him a smile. Teddy could see it was a sad and bitter one. "I'm used to it."

Teddy, anticipating Draco to say that, pulled the older man into a hug. "Nobody should judge you for something in the past." They stayed like that for a while. At least until the two women finally joined them, at which point Teddy and Draco separated.

Son Hae walked up to Draco and stopped a few feet away from him. There was a tired expression on her face, making her look her age. "I want to apologise. My thirst for revenge nearly hurt more people than necessary. I'm glad my husband and my granddaughter were able to stop me, but I regret all that I have done to you."

When she finished, Draco said, "Don't blame yourself. I understand. You did all this out of love and loyalty towards your late husband, much like the way I joined the Death Eaters because of my own loyalty to my parents."

Draco paused as he reached into his bag and pulled out the sparkling vial. He extended it to Son Hae. "Here. I want you to have this."

Everyone, even Teddy, looked at Draco with an astonished expression. Son Hae took a step back and held up her hands. "No. I can't take that. You solved the riddle. You found it, so it's rightfully yours."

"But it was all because of your husband's notes. He had already done most of the work. He's the one who had translated the riddle from the ancient language."

"Yes, but you found it."

"Yes, but I didn't want to find this for fame and be renowned for this discovery," Draco again tried to hand the vial over to her. "My plan was to find his grave and empty the Jiyu there. He deserves it."

As Draco's words sank into all their minds, Teddy saw tears well up in Son Hae's eyes before she reach out with shaky hands and grasped the bottle. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Draco nodded and repeated, "Yes."

She wiped her eyes and regained her composure. "Will you two follow Jin Sil, Max, and I to the grave?"

Teddy caught Draco's eyes. He nodded in affirmation to Draco.

"Yes, we'll be honoured to go," Draco assured her.

This was where Max stepped in. With a grin, he pulled out a notebook that had Mickey Mouse on the cover. After he got the location from Son Hae, he spelled it into a Portkey. "Grab Mickey, everyone!"

Teddy suppressed a laugh at the bizarre turn of events and grabbed a part of the notebook. Other hands joined him, and Max said the word. "Kimchi!"

* * *

The place where Jung Min was laid to rest was at a peaceful, beautiful, snow-covered valley. Off in the distance, Teddy saw snowy mountains.

He focused his attention on Son Hae and Jin Sil, as they walked up to the burial mound. The women, despite the snow on the ground, got down on their knees and made a formal bow to pay respect to Jung Min. Son Hae stood up and edged closer to the front of the mound. She opened the vial, but she hesitated as she turned back to look at Draco.

Draco didn't say anything. He simply nodded.

Son Hae turned back to the mound. Slowly, she poured out the three drops of the liquid from a long forgotten past. The drops hit the snow.

A slow mist came and surrounded the valley. Teddy saw a huge amount of the mist all congregated on top of the mound. The mist gradually took a form, and once again it was the spirit of Jung Min.

Son Hae stayed silent and the others followed suit as they all watched the ghost. Jung Min's mouth moved as if he was talking, but there were no sounds coming from him. However, Teddy could hear in his heart the spirit was thanking them. The ghost smiled and gave a loving look to Son Hae and Jin Sil before it dissipated. Teddy instinctively knew that the spirit was finally able to rest.

The mist disappeared as well. Jin Sil gasped as she pointed at the top of the mound. A single flower stood there. A beautiful flower, its petals coloured blue and white, its stem and leaves in the healthiest shade of green. For eternity, the Jiyu's power would allow it to always live on, even through the most extreme weather, it will never die, always remaining its beautiful blooming self.

After that was done, Son Hae left the mound and walked up to Draco. Grabbing his hands, she put the diamond vial in his opened hands and closed them. "Keep it. You gave my husband the Jiyu. I give you the vial."

Teddy could see Draco wanting to protest, but Draco gave her a small smile as he brought his hands towards his body. "Thank you. Thank you for this honour."

* * *

After they promised to go out again with Max and Jin Sil to another night of singing and drinking, Teddy and Draco Apparated back home. Once there, they walked into the sitting room.

"I didn't know that was your plan with the Jiyu."

Draco just shrugged as he sat down on the couch. "You never asked."

"You're right about that." Teddy took a seat next to Draco and grabbed him into an embrace.

"Hey!"

"I thought I was going to lose you," Teddy explained without any mirth. "When she was running towards you with the knife, and I wasn't able to get to you in time, I have never felt so helpless in my entire life."

Teddy felt Draco relaxing in his arms. He felt Draco's arm around him. Encouraged by that small gesture, he buried his face in the space where Draco's shoulder and neck met. Teddy breathed in that familiar scent, the scent that had caused him to go mad just two months ago. Softly, he kissed the pale skin and stayed there, unmoving.

"Are you," Draco started in a slightly breathy voice, "just going to stay there all day?"

Teddy raised his head to meet Draco's grey eyes and gave him an impish smile. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Your scent is very pleasing to me."

"You make me sound like I need to take a bath."

"Not really. I've enjoyed your scent since that first day I saw you."

"Ye gads! Not _that_ first day!"

Teddy smiled and kissed the area again. It must have been a sensitive spot for Draco because he moaned out loud. "You like it?"

"Don't ask silly questions," Draco managed in his usual biting tones. Teddy felt Draco's hand against his head, pushing him away. "So tell me, you liked me since that first day when I was butting heads with Mung Chung?"

"Where you were wet and naked? Well, sort of. You had this smell about you. Remember how I told you Victoire didn't smell right to my nose? Well you apparently smelled right from the very beginning."

"Somehow that confession doesn't make me want to jump up and down in excitement."

"It was the end of October," Teddy admitted. "That's when I came to the realisation that I liked you and realised that you were the one for me."

A sharp look overtook Draco's face. "Wait a minute. That was around the time when you were --"

"Wanking off like a teenager while being spied on by a dokkaebi who told its master?" Teddy dryly said.

Draco nodded.

"Very perceptive, _Professor_," Teddy said in a husky voice.

He watched Draco's grey eyes darken. "I -- my feelings started to change for you as well. Probably around the same time. I just tried not to let it show nor treat you any differently."

"And you succeeded."

"Ah, but I didn't succeed around my son."

Teddy blinked. "Explain, please."

"That Sunday morning at breakfast, the day we came down together? We were catching up with each other. That shrewd son of mine must have read something in me."

"And what was his, er, response?" Teddy cautiously asked.

Draco smirked. "His response was -- and I quote -- 'Dad, just do what makes you happy. Just don't go into details about your sex life, okay?'"

Teddy blushed and groaned. He rested his forehead on Draco's shoulder. "For Merlin's sake! Your son, my godfather, and my grandmother must all be taking Divination from someone who's not Professor Trelawney!"

"Hm. Honestly, I could care less about their Divination skills or lack thereof. I was thinking about ways of trying to torture my son with details of our sex lives if there ever is a time for it."

Teddy lifted his head up at the challenge. He pulled Draco onto his lap. In a rough voice, he said, "I'm up for the challenge. Just don't tell Scorpius."

"What if I want to?"

"Then I'll do this to shut you up." Teddy closed the gap between them. Their lips met, and Teddy kissed, sucked, and nipped Draco's lips. He deepened the kiss by slipping his tongue inside where he memorised every single indentations and depression as he tasted him. While he kissed Draco, he allowed one hand to reach down to cup a nice, firm arse. His other hand reached up to undo the buttons of Draco's shirt. With the shirt parted open, the ends pulled out from the pants, Teddy's hand roamed across Draco's chest and torso. Breaking the kiss, he made a wet trail with his lips down Draco's jaw and neck.

"Wait --" Draco managed to say. "Not here. Bedroom."

Teddy stopped his ministrations and pouted. He helped Draco up on his feet and led them back to the room. "Satisifed? I hope so! Now my mood's ruined!"

He allowed himself to be tugged forward. He kept his eyes on Draco's face; even when Draco sat on the bed and scooted himself backwards, Teddy's eyes didn't move away from Draco's face. His stare broke, though, when he felt Draco's foot at his crotch, massaging his arousal. He moaned loudly. "Damn. Feels so good . . . "

"And you said your mood was ruined?" Draco kept up the crotch massage. "If that's ruined, then I'd love to see how you would act if your mood's not ruined."

Growling, Teddy crawled on the bed and hovered over Draco. He stared at Draco's scars, the same scars he saw two months ago. He kissed them, traced each and every one of them with his tongue. Draco moaned and grabbed onto his lover. Encouraged Teddy kept up his attention. As each second passed, the passion between them grew stronger. It wasn't long before Teddy took off Draco's pants and underwear. Soon after, Teddy started to taste Draco, smell him in ways he never would have imagined. His exploration of Draco continued as he urged himself to try to find out how to make the man cry out in pleasure. First it was with his fingers. Then he fully entered all the way himself, and he lost himself in pleasures he never had imagined. When he and Draco reached the end together, he couldn't help but relish the fact that the bliss he had just experienced felt so much better than any wank session.

During the aftermath, he and Draco cuddled with each other on the bed. No words were exchanged as they rested. Teddy felt his eyes drooping, and he would have fallen asleep if it wasn't for Draco's, "Mung Chung!"

Teddy's eyes shot open. At the foot of the bed, he saw Mung Chung standing there, grinning at them.

Both Teddy and Draco shared a look. And both of them shouted the dokkaebi's name, the sounds echoing throughout the house as chaos between the three resumed.

* * *

Christmas Eve at the Burrow was hectic as usual, with all the Weasleys, Potters, and other friends and family members all crammed into the tight spot. Teddy looked around the homely place, one of his many hang outs from childhood. He saw Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione and their children, Rose and Hugo. He saw Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur playing host as usual. There were loud banging noises followed by laughter, and he wasn't surprised to see Uncle George showing off one of his new tricks. Off to the side, he saw Harry and Neville talking to Ginny and her boyfriend. Amongst the river of red, he saw his grandmother talking with Lily and James. Victoire and Anthony were talking with Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur.

Then his eyes rested on Albus Severus and Scorpius, where the two of them looked so happy with each other. Teddy couldn't wait until the two of them came to visit in Korea. Now that Teddy's mission was officially over, he decided to accept Yonsei University's offer to teach at the College of Advanced Auror Techniques, CAAT for short. This allowed him to stay in Korea and to stay with Draco, who currently was talking to Uncle Percy.

It wasn't long before it was time to eat. They all gathered into the expanded dining room, where they all sat at the long table that looked as if it was grunting in pain from the weight of all the food. Everyone was served, and they started to eat and talk as they all enjoyed Christmas Eve.

Teddy sat between Albus Severus and Draco. While they ate, under the table, he reached for Draco's hand. He laced their fingers together. He leaned in and whispered in Draco' ear. "Happy Christmas, Love."

Draco smiled and whispered back, "You too, Love. Happy Christmas."

* * *

**Ending Notes**

_These are the images I used to picture places in the fic_:  
- Draco's hanok home inside here.  
- Draco's hanok home outside here.  
- Yonsei Univeristy here.  
- Visual representation of a dokkaebi here.

_Wikipedia Pages for research and more in-depth reading_:  
- Seoul  
- Gwangju  
- Pungmul (that rude alarm clock that woke Teddy)  
- Hanbok (the traditional Korean outfit)  
- Kimchi  
- Korean Mythology  
- Korean Shamanism  
- Han River  
- Myeong-dong  
- Seoul Tower  
- DLI 63 Building  
- Itaewon  
- Insa-dong  
- Bongeunsa  
- Seoraksan  
- Gyeongju (Draco's favourite place)  
- Seoul Grand Park Zoo  
- Dokdo (the island Masul-do is modelled after)

_Couple of the Korean names in the fics actually have meanings. Here's the list_:  
- Jin Sil = truth, sincere  
- Soon Jung = pure  
- Son Hae = damage

Words: 31,162

Completed November 27, 2008


End file.
